This Mess We're In
by CrossbowPower
Summary: This is a very AU story in which Daryl is a single parent of a 12 year old girl, named Sophia. -Yes, pretty weird- So they move to this new town, and well, things start to happen. It will eventually be Caryl so of course, if it's not your thing, then you probably shouldn't read it, but other characters of the show will also play their part.
1. Chapter 1

Well, this idea popped into my head last night and I guess I just couldn't wait. I have no further plans for this story yet and no idea about where this is going or how long it's going to last... I hope you like it though and then we'll see!

I know it's way too AU and kind of weird too, but I think it's also cute... I hope it doesn't freak you out!

And of course, it will eventually be CARYL, all the way.

-The title of the story is the name of a Radiohead song, and I definitely do not own TWD at all-

Hugs!

S.-

* * *

'So umm, this is it, I think', Daryl said looking through the car's window to the house and then to the piece of paper with the address scrawled and then back to the house over and over again.

'Holy shit Darylina! Ain' we progressin'?' Merle said cheerfully as he patted his brother's shoulder.

'low down yer voice brotha', yer gonna wake 'er up… ain't nothin' big anyway… we're jus' used ta livin' in fuckin' shit holes 's all'.

He didn't know why he actually said that because for him, this wasn't big, it was damn huge. Right there in front of him was a white nice one story house, with a neat square garden in the front and a grey gable roof. He had seen them before, of course, because they were the typical nice neighbourhood houses, but he sure as hell had never thought he'd be actually living on one of them.

'well well well... people's gonna start thinkin' yer a damn standard american citizen an' all'.

Daryl rolled his eyes. 'Shut up man, 's just a fuckin' house. Pretty cool tha removal van's already 'ere', he said glancing torwads the big van which most likely had their few belongings inside. 'well, let's get goin'.

'don' think she wants ta get goin', Merle mentioned as he turned around. Daryl looked in the rear mirror and saw her spreaded all over the back seat, her hands tightened around her teddy bear, and deeply asleep. He chuckled.

'Been a fuckin' long journey.. think ya can lift 'er without waking 'er up?'

'I sure as hell can.. where ya want me ta put 'er though? over tha damn floor?'

'Umm, yeah… gotta wake 'er up then, I'm gonna talk ta these guys, tell 'em we're 'ere and ready ta do this'.

'Phiaa', Merle called her, crawling to the back seat and tickling her foot. The girl shifted but didn't open her eyes, so he started to annoyingly shake her leg as he laughed quietly.

The girl suddenly opened her eyes, looking all around to figure out where they were. She pictured Merle then and rolled her eyes.

'You scared the shit outta me, Merle!' she spatted, rubbing her eyes. 'We here already?' she asked as she sat and looked through the window.

'Watch yer mouth kiddo, if ya don' want me ta tell yer dad', he warned her, 'yes, we're 'ere, check out yer new pretty house'.

* * *

Daryl used to be the kind of guy who didn't expect much from life. He had managed to finish high-school, which had been pretty much epic considering the troubled home he came from. Back in his younger years, he'd never think or planify his future and whenever he imagined it, he pictured himself working in construction just as he had been doing ever since he graduated, trying to earn a few bucks to fullfill his basic needs, which just consisted in his truck, food and some beer every now and then. But life was apparently full of surprises, even for a redneck like himself, and it made a 360° turn one unexpected day. If someone had asked him to think of the weirdest things he could imagine happening to himself, he'd have never, ever, mentioned he might be a full time dad some day.

He had just turned 22 the day his life changed. That day, he opened the door and bumped into a woman he didn't know, who was holding a little basket. He remembered the conversation by heart:

_'Who the hell are ya?'_

_'Daryl Dixon right?'_

_'Yea, and you'd be…?'_

_'I um, you don't know me. I'm Amber's friend. She's the mother of this child. Told me she couldn't take care of her and just moved out… said you were the father'._

He remembered how the young girl's voice had been shaky all the time.

And then the girl just handed him the basket and, without giving him time to ask her any more questions, she just turned away and quickly got into a car before he could even react.

Daryl's hands were trembling and he had to use both to avoid dropping the thing. He peered inside it then and saw a 1 or 2 months old baby girl sleeping peacefully, her finger on her mouth. He sat on the front yard, putting the basket next to him, feeling shocked. He remembered that Amber girl… it was a brunnete chick who frequented the pub he used to go with Merle and some other guys. She used to check him out and flirt with him, until one night, probably _two months ago_, she had insisted so much he ended up fucking her in the pub's bathroom. He brought his hands to his head as he recalled Merle mentioning he'd ran into her and she was pregnant. But it just never occured to him… could it be possible that…? Holy fucking shit. He heard the baby make some kind of noise and leaned to see what was going on. The girl had her eyes opened and it seemed she was about to cry. And he felt he was about to faint when he saw his exact blue eyes staring back at him.

It had been a nightmare, that first week. Dealing with his own confusion and with a damn 2 months old baby who happened to be more work than building a damn house with his own hands. Overnight, his house filled with diapers and the few baby things he managed to get or borrow, and with his brother yelling at him and telling him how could he be so stupid. It had also costed him a few more of his ol' man's beatings, the son of a bitch insisting he should just throw the girl away to the damn trash… yeah... he remembered those were the exact words he had used. It had lasted a week, until he started to come to terms with the whole crazy situation and just took off. He didn't know that'd also be the day he'd see his old man for the last time; fucker died five years later from overdose. His daughter didn't even know his name.

He was driving all around Senoia, looking for some cheap room to rent, when he saw a woman with a 5 year old kid crossing the street. The girl had apparently let her mother's hand go and was running in between the cars. 'Sophia!' her momma screamed in panic. And for some reason he had liked the way it sounded. He stared at the baby who was sleeping in her basket on the back seat.

'How 'bout we call ya Sophia, huh?' and that was the first time he talked to her.

That freaking nigthmare started to slowly turn into the best damn thing that had ever happened to him, once he made the DNA test and all the proceedings to legally claim her as his daugther. Sure, being a single parent was no joke but it was filled with this little rewards all the time. The girl grew fast, faster than he could get used to, and he barely got any sleep those days between work and the child. Because that day he left his house, he made a promise to himself: he'd make sure this little girl had the best possible life he could give her.

For some reason, until Sophia turned one year old, Merle used to act as if the girl didn't exist. He'd never help Daryl with her, never look after her…and whenever he'd look at her his gaze'd be full of dismissal. it seemed like if he considered she was no living thing but rather some kind of object his brother was stuck with. And Daryl knew he was jealous of her too, jealous of the life he was trying to give her. But when she started to grow up, crawl, walk, mumble the first things… he just fell in love with her just like Daryl had. He even moved with them a few years later, when he managed to get rid of Jack, and it'd been like if Sophia had two daddies or something. They'd burst out laughing whenever they took her to the park or some public place, and people would just stare at them or start gossiping, probably thinking they were some gay couple with a kid. Sophia changed Merle too, his brother slowly leaving the drugs behind and turning into a pretty decent guy, or as decent as someone like Merle could be. Sure he'd smoke a joint and get wasted from time to time, but he'd never do it around her, and he was very overprotective with her… probably even more than his brother.

Daryl always knew he wouldn't be able to give her a whole lot, working in construction like he did, and since he liked cooking so much and it only took 2 years to get a cooking degree, he saved money and enroled himself in cooking school. Once he graduated, it sure as hell started to give him more money than his former jobs. And he loved to do it, and he was damn good at it, and he became something he'd never thought he would be: a happy man. He got a job as a kitchen assistant in one of the nicest restaurants in Senoia, but it took only a year for them to promote him and he became the Sous- chef of the place. Bussiness was going so well they had now opened a new branch in Hinesville, and asked him to move there to run the kitchen. Payment was good and Senoia wasn't exactly filled with good memories other than Sophia, so after talking to her into it, he took the job right away.

Luckily for him, although they looked a lot alike, that was one of the few things in common between them. Sophia was friendly and got along with everyone. She was smart as hell too, and although she was starting to swear a lot, she didn't have his dad's roughness and was actually very sweet. Sure, she was kind of a tomboy, loving to hunt and spend time in the woods… but she was 12 now and Daryl freaked out at the idea of her teenage years coming. He was a single dad after all, and dealing with a teenage daughter, bras and skirts and school dances just terrified him.

* * *

'Holy fuck, I'm exhausted lil' brotha… will run to tha closest bar, drink a few beers'. Merle said, whipping the sweat off of his face as he carried the last things inside.

'I wanna go too! Want to check this place out!' Sophia said, shaking Merle's arm.

Daryl chuckled. 'We ain't goin to tha shitty places yer uncle's fond of honey... we can go get somethin' ta eat though, why don't ya shower first? Ya stink'.

She put her hands on her hips and gave him a sceptikal look. 'Are you kidding me?_ you _stink! As always!'

He walked towards her, placing his hands on her shoulders and looking to the house in front of them. 'This is our new home kiddo'.

She looked up at him, smiling. 'I like it dad'.


	2. Chapter 2

Here's another chapter of this story I'm still not sure where it'll be heading to... but I'm definitely excited to write it!

Anyway, I know this is a Caryl FF and there's no sign of Carol yet... but there will be, soon.

My intentions were to work on a less AU story, something involving the prison and zombis and all, but there's a lot of GREAT work about that in this site, mostly after 04x04, so I figured something different could also be good. Yes! it's VERY different, but I'll try no to make the main characters be too AU, because that's why we like them in the first place.

Thank you to those who R&R, follow, fave, etc... it's just great and encouraging.

Hugs!

S.-

* * *

2.

Daryl woke up that Sunday morning thinking his favorite thing so far about this place was it's temperate weather. It was actually strange not to feel all sticky because of the damn humidity in the air. The room was still dark although he could see through the shutters the sun was starting to come up. He blinked a few times to adjust to the darkness and then he looked around, feeling the damn bedroom looked huge since it was so empty, his bed and some clothes spreaded on the floor the only existent objects filling it for now. He didn't care at all as long as he had a mattress, but he did make sure they set Sophia's room as nicely as they could. He knew moving out could be a big deal for a child, mostly because it was something they usually had no decision over, so he wanted to make the place, and specially her room, as homey as he could. But his girl was the coolest kid of the world, and she had taken it pretty well, even though, for her, it will mean being away from her friends, and from Merle. Specially from Merle.

He then remembered Merle had gone to get a few drinks the night before, after they'd had dinner at some overcrowded fast food place. He didn't hear him get back so he had no idea what time that might have occured. He shook his head as he stood up and grabbed the pair of jeans from the floor, hoping he at least wasn't laying unconscious on the guests room.

He didn't bother to put a t-shirt on as he left the room and bumped into the hallway. Hell, he still wasn't used to this new house yet. There were two hallways that connected with the dining room, one leading to his room and the other to two other bedrooms: Sophia's and a guest room, with a bathroom in front of them. He walked quickly towards her room and opened the door silently, only to watch her tiny frame spreaded all over the bed and far asleep. Unlike him, she was a big sleeping fan, and he was probably the only weirdo up at 7.30 am on a Sunday and after that exhausting move anyway.

He was already in his way to the kitchen when he decided he'd mess with Merle and wake him up, since he was leaving today and they wouldn't be seeing him for at least a couple of weeks.

'Fuck, Merle!' He spatted a little too loudly as he widely opened the door. Judging from what he was seeing, it appeared Merle had decided to mess with him first, and it wasn't damn funny: his naked ass definitely wasn't the best sight to get the morning started, but he also saw the bare back, most likely of a woman, laying right there next to him.

'Merle!' he hissed, and the man just opened his eyes and turned around, holding himself on his elbows as he smirked at him and waved at Daryl, like if everything was alright.

Daryl sucked on his teeth and motioned with his hand for his brother to get over. Since he wasn't moving he stepped into the room himself. If he showed no respect, well, neither would he.

'Wha' tha fuck ya think yer doin'? Ya got one minute ta get whoeva this is outta 'ere'… Jesus Merle, she may have heard ya', he murmured, although by the expression of his face no one would have said he was yelling.

'slow down, lil' brotha! She didn' hear a thing! Got maself this lil' pretty thing, couldn' say no and jus' didn' have nowhere ta go'.

'This ain't no fuckin' motel and my daugther's sleepin' righ' next to ya!' He turned around, his face burning red.

'Been helpin' ya wit' all these stuff! Figured I deserved some vacation!' Merle called out, and the asshole was even laughing.

* * *

Daryl heard footsteps and the front door open and then shut and he breathed in relief. He was making some coffee and he found out the kitchen was so luminous he didn't even need to turn the light on… definitely nothing as their old, dark apartment. It was actually nice, looking through the big window to the front yard as he tried to find the cups. He didn't even have to turn around to notice Merle had walked through the house and sat behind him.

'I won't say it again, man.. don' want no random women around 'ere.'

'Jesus, Darylina! Ya need ta relax... ain't no fuckin' big deal.. ya know I'm always cautious wit' tha'.. jus' a lil' slip.'

He turned around to face him then, leaning against the sink and crossing his arms around his chest. He raised his brows. 'yea well.. not so sure 'bout tha', he mumbled.

Daryl had to agree his brother had indeed tried to avoid bringing women back there in their old apartment. Every now and then though, he'd failed, probably because he ended up too drunk to care about it, and Daryl could never be sure if those times Sophia hadn't noticed or if she had pretended not to, but she never said a thing anyway.

'Cut it off already an' bring me a damn cup of coffee will ya?'

He just sighed and brought the coffee to the table. 'She ain't up yet anyway, jus' hope she didn' hear ya, 's all', he commented, shaking his head at the thought.

Merle chuckled. 'Well since we're fuckin' discussin' this all damn mornin', lemme jus' say I think ya should start actin' more like a man and less than a housewife.. will do ya good'.

Daryl stared at him, his eyes wide open. 'And wha' tha hell's tha' suppossed ta mean?'

'Means ya should get some… for fuck's sake, man! Ya know I love tha' kiddo as if she was my own, but she's 12 already, start livin' yer damn life'.

Daryl thought for a second about what Merle was saying before deciding it didn't make any sense.

'I live ma damn life the way I want it ta be… and gettin' some jus' happens ta be tha least of ma concerns.'

'too busy ta fuck', Merle said, mocking him, 'yea, keep tellin' yerself tha'… next thing ya know, yer lil' friend there will jus' not fuckin' work'.

Daryl rolled his eyes and before he could say anything in return he saw Sophia walking towards the kitchen, still in her pijamas. He gave Merle a look as to inform him he should stop talking about all that shit, and luckily, he caught it inmediately.

'So what were you talking about huh?' Sophia asked, her voice still sleepy.

'We were talkin' bout Merle leavin' today… ya slept alrite?' Daryl stood up and patted her head before heading to the fridge to grab the milk.

'You're such a terrible liar', the girl said as she poured the milk in her cereals, which got Merle laughing.

'Oh yea? So wha' makes ya think I'm lyin', ya smartass?'

'Well, when you walk into a place… and people suddenly stop talking', she said, as she chewed her cereals, 'it's cause they were talking about something they don't want you to know about… that, and that it's just so obvious when you lie.'

'girl's always one damn step forward', Merle commented, 'well guys, ol' Merle's takin' off.. damn it, kiddo, ain't gonna be easy, being away of yer tiny ass'.

'You promised you'd come every weekend', Sophia told him, her mouth starting to curl in a pout.

'will do kiddo, wheneva I can, promise ya… and ya promised ya wouldn' cry'.

Sophia just nodded as they headed outside and watch Merle start the car he had rented. They stood there until he was far away down the road.

Daryl watched her sad face through the corner of his eye. 'C'mon Soph, we got a lotta cool things ta do today... we're gonna stop by tha restaurant… then we'll head to tha super and grab whateva ya wanna fill the fridge wit'… we can rent a movie later or do whateva ya want'.

Sophia smiled slightly. 'Ok'.

* * *

It was 12 o' clock when he parked the car in front of _The Oak._ The restaurant was located next to the National Park, and it was surrounded by pines and.. duh, oaks. Daryl nodded approvingly as he noticed they had set it up less fancier and more rustic than the one in Senoia, which he thought suited better with the atmosphere of the city, and even with himself too. The place was actually pretty crowded and if they had arrived 2 minutes later there would have been no place to park in.

Daryl swallowed. He was supossed to talk to some Dale guy, who was the man in charge of the whole place, but he wasn't exactly the friendly type, and, apparently, people tended to think of chefs as charismatic people or something and he had the feeling they ended up dissapointed when they found a rough around the edges redneck instead.

'Dad?' Sophia called him as they were crossing the street.

'Hmm?'

'Don't act all weird when you talk to these people, ok?'

Daryl chuckled and stopped walking to look down at her with a skeptic look.

'Remind me when ya started ta give yer ol' man advice 'bout shit?' he asked, unable to stop smirking.

'just saying!' Sophia said, shrugging. 'you tend to be awkward when you introduce yourself to people, and they end up getting the wrong impression, that's all'.

'Oh yea? And wha' tha right impression would be?'

'That you're actually very nice?' she said, matter of factly.

'Tell ya a secret, I'm way nicer to ya than ta the rest of 'em… but I'll try', he told her, grabbing her by the nape of her neck and walking them to the restaurant's entrance, the smirk still on his face.

* * *

'Good evening! Is it just the two of you?' a blond waitress standing by the door greeted them as they walked in.

'Um, yea.. no, I'm huh.. Daryl Dixon? Be workin' 'ere from now on'.

'Oh! So you're Daryl Dixon! From Senoia, right? Been told you cook like heaven'. The woman smiled at him, stretching her hand. Daryl shook it, blushing as he realized his was actually sweating big time so he quickly let go.

'thank ya', he mumbled, 'I'm suppossed to talk ta… Dale? He around?' He asked looking all over the place although he had no idea what this Dale dude looked like.

'Yep! I'm Andrea, by the way… I just remembered he was actually expecting you. Hello there!' she said, noticing Sophia standing right next to him.

Daryl looked down at her, who was already stretching her own hand and had a wide grin on her face. 'I'm Sophia, it's nice to meet you'.

'Nice to meet you too sweety!' the woman… Andrea, said, smiling at her and then back to Daryl.

'Well, I'm gonna run to get Dale, you wait right here', and she dissapeared inside the place.

Minutes later, an old, cheerful looking man with a flowered shirt showed up.

'Daryl Dixon! So glad to finally meet you!' he said shaking hands with Daryl frantically. 'First of all, you get inside, suit yourself… order whatever you want…' he announced, clapping his hands, and Daryl instantly noticed he was quite a character. 'It's on the house of course, to which you belong now', he added, winking.

Daryl just nodded and turned around, looking for Sophia. He spotted her watching a huge fish tank and whistled at her.

'Phia! Get over 'ere!'

Dale looked confused for a second but then he saw the girl approaching them and smiled. 'Look at this pretty thing!', he said, leaning in.

'Hello, nice to meet you', Sophia's voice sounded a little shyer than before.

And for some reason Daryl knew what was coming.

'Didn't know you had a child! Well… I guess I should set a table for three then!'

Even though he'd heard it so many times, it still made his blood boil. They had had that talk with Sophia, of course, as soon as she started to ask about her momma and all. But since she'd never met her and it'd always been just them, for her it was pretty much the most normal thing in the world. That didn't mean she had to be reminded of how weird it could sound to some people being raised by a single father, and it made Daryl mad noticing how narrow-minded people were. Or maybe they were just naive and weren't thinking, but it still wasn't damn right. He breathed and said what he always said when asked that:

''s jus' tha two of us'.

He noticed the man slightly blush, but soon enough they were sitting in a table.

'Burguer and fries for me!'

Daryl just chuckled at Sophia's order wondering if they even made that in the place.

'Well, you know that quote…" The shoemaker's son always goes barefoot." Or maybe I'm just too old and you don't know it…', Dale commented, chuckling and taking a seat himself as well.

'Yea.. girl jus' loves junk food', Daryl offered, starting to feel uncomfortable about the idea of having to bring some sort of conversation with his new boss.

'Well, Daryl', the man said leaning back on his chair, 'we've already discussed the basics on the phone… Monday to Saturday, 6 to 11.30 pm… 12.30 pm on Saturdays', he spoke quickly. 'the menu is pretty much the same than the one in Senoia, but whenever you feel like cooking something different, you just write the ingredients down and we'll make sure to get them as quick as possible'.

Daryl just nodded. 'Alrite… Monday ta Saturday non- stop then?'

'Yes… I know you had another free day during the week back there in Senoia, but you might have realized this city is much more populated and it gets crowded almost every day… that's one of the reasons why the payment's higher though', Dale told him giving him an expectant look, as if he was fearing he might take the offer down.

If he had ever complained about not having a life, this was definitely going to be much worse. But he'd do it anyway, he was already here. he just had to figure it out somehow.

'Yea.. no big deal, we'll get used ta it', he said, glancing at Sophia who was not paying attention at all to the conversation, too concentrated on spreading kétchup all over her fries.

'I bet you will', Dale told him, grinning. And Daryl inmediately noticed he was the friendly but strict type.

He filled Sophia's glass with coke and saw Dale shaking hands other guy who was dressed in a cop's uniform. He rolled his eyes, definitely tired of greeting and being introduced to every single damn citizen of Hainsville.

'Say hi to our new sous- chef, Rick', Dale stood up and raised his glass up, motioning for them to stand up and toast. Damn was this awkward. Luckily the cop just sat down and asked Dale to bring him a beer, the toast left behind right away.

'Well, I bet you're tired of being formally introduced but I'm Rick Grimmes, sheriff in town'.

'Daryl Dixon.. and this here is Soph..' he turned to look at the girl but she had again headed to the fish tank. Daryl chuckled. 'tha' girl ove' there, tha's my kiddo, Sophia'.

Rick just smiled and took a sip of the beer Dale had just gotten him. 'Welcome to Hainsville Daryl… whatever you need, just call us out… I just stopped by to grab some food, got some kids of my own to feed. Should take a nap too, been taking rounds all night and all damn morning'.

'gets complicated 'round 'ere?'

'No, not at all actually… just had to deal with some drunks who didn't want to go back home. That's as troubled as this place can get though, in general at least'.

'Good ta hear', Daryl commented absently.

'You plan on staying for good?'

'Yea.. I guess so, jus' gotta figure out if I'm gonna make it.. lots of work hours and Soph ta take care of, gonna be a damn challenge… I intend ta though'. He was talking more to himself than to this Rick man sitting in front of him, but for some reason he ended up saying it aloud. Maybe because he decided he liked the guy so far, only because he didn't mentioned or asked anything about Sophia's momma like most people did.

'Well.. like I said, whatever you need. I got two kids of my own and I know how time consuming it can be'.

'Yea.. I'm jus' gonna have ta go ahead and bring 'er along wit' me, as long as Dale's ok wit' it.. she's twelve, might be old 'nough ta stay on her own til I get outta work, but fer some reason I jus' don't like tha idea'.

'Been there man.. Carl, my boy, is twelve too. They just never seem to be old enough though huh?'

Daryl just sat in silence and motioned for Sophia to sit and eat her lunch. The cop was still sitting with them, but he stood up as soon as he finished his beer.

'Well… Daryl, Sophia. Was nice to meet you both. Hope to see you around.. and, Daryl.. if it ever gets complicated, there's this young woman, a student… she's absolutely trust worthy, looks after Carl and Jude every now and then. I can give you her number, just let me know'.

He just frowned, definitely not used to leaving his kid with random people he didn't know, but he appreciated the man's good intentions anyway. And maybe he'd eventually have to go for it.

He looked at Sophia who was anxiously eating her burguer and then to the foreign place he was going to be a part of. This was going to be a mess, but they'll get used to it. It was what they did, after all.


	3. Chapter 3

Here's another chapter for this story. We're still getting to know the characters and the background, and they haven't even met each other just yet, but they will, of course.

Thank you to all of you who show interest in this one, even though it's quite AU. I hope you like this chapter as well.

Hugs!

S.-

* * *

"The fact that I study art doesn't automatically turn me into a toe nail painting expert, you know that right?" Carol said, biting her bottom lip hard as she tried to smooth over the nail spolish on Maggie's big toe. Once she finished, she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes as she looked at her work, nodding in approval before moving to the next toe.

The girl, who was laying on the sofa with her feet raised over the armrest, threw her head back and laughed. "Well, you could always become a make up artist, if your painting doesn't go well, hat is… then you'll be thanking me for being there in your initial steps".

Carol chuckled. "Yeah… let's just hope it isn't necessary, I mean.. I don't even know how to hold an eyeliner myself".

The chestnut haired woman held herself on her elbows and looked down at her bright red toe nail, smiling in satisfaction.

"Oh Carol, I love it! I picked this skirt to wear tonight… but my legs just looked so pale, this will definitely enhance the outfit!"

"No problem, sweetheart, it's actually relaxing, doing this. I'm just starting to wonder if something might be wrong with me... I never paid attention to my toe nails, ever. So, how is it going with this Glenn dude?"

Maggie smirked. "I still haven't decided whether I like him or not… But… it's fun for now. Oh and by the way, I told dad I'd be staying over here."

Carol shook her head and smiled. Talking to Maggie always reminded her of her younger years, those days before her happy spirit, her boldness… even her good looks were taken away from her. _Supressed, but not gone_, was what she always tried to think, and luckily for her, she had a bunch of nice, caring people around who had helped and made it easier for her to start to actually believe it.

"Don't you think you're kind of… too old to lie to him, Maggie?" She asked amusingly.

"Are you serious? You know how dad is… if anything, I'm too old to still be living with them. But I can't leave them now, not with mom having passed away so recently… Bethie all depressed in her room all day and daddy just having to take care of everything on his own".

Carol's heart squeezed as she remembered Jo's death, the woman one of the most pure hearted people she'd ever met, and one of her biggest supports during her whole separation from Ed.

"I know honey… you just know you're more than welcome to move here when things get calmer in the farm. We've talked about it with Andrea and decided it'd be good for everyone, would help us reduce costs and all".

Maggie grinned that gorgeous grin of hers and nodded eagerly. "Oh my god, I absolutely forgot to tell you this!"

"Jesus Maggie! Just try to stay still... I almost end up painting your ankle".

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry". She answered, giggling. "was Jimmy's birthday today, daddy decides we should have a big celebration… says we'd go to _The Oak. _There was this guy I've never seen before, with this cute little girl… anyway, to make a long story short: there's a new chef in the place, and he's damn hot, too."

Carol was just staring at her with a skeptical look and laughed a little when Maggie finished. "So what's the point of the story? That the new chef is hot?"

"Yeah?" Maggie said, matter-of-factly. "We never run into new people in this town, and if we do, they just don't happen to look like this guy. Andrea told me he just got here, came because he got the job… there's just something about him, doesn't look at all like a chef though, he's got this unkempt, rebel style going on. But damn, he looks good. He's got this pretty daughter, made him look cute".

"And he's probably got a pretty wife, too", Carol commented.

Maggie chuckled. "Yeah, probably… damn, I haven't thought of that".

* * *

The alarm rang at 7 am just as it did every day in his life. Only, this time, he felt he could have just shut it off and kept on sleeping until the next day. It was Sophia's first day at school and his first day at work too, and without thinking twice he jumped out of the bed and headed to the kitchen to make her breakfast and fix her something to eat at lunch.

He was searching for the tuna in one of the cupboards when he heard his phone ring. He grabbed it quickly and chuckled when he saw who was calling.

"Why in hell ya callin' at 7 in the mornin' huh?"

"Morning sunshine. Nice to hear you too. Figured it'd be the only time in the day you'd actually answer".

"It's alrite… was up already, Soph's firs' day in school today"

"She excited about it? How is she dealing with the whole thing?"

"Better than I am, fer sure…" he replied, chuckling again, "naw, I mean, 's all good.. got 'ere two fuckin' days ago though, already know I won't be havin' much of a life.. but otha than tha' we're good, house's nice 'nough an' shit".

"Mhhm. Think I've heard it before, you complaining about not having a life."

"Shut up and come visit.. she misses ya woman... ya good ove' there? Everythin' alrite with… whateva his name was?" He was fixing some tuna sandwich for Sophia as he held the phone between his ear and his shoulder, a cigarrete on his other hand.

"Who you talking about? Tyresse? Oh no, it's over. Guy was too damn demanding".

"Damn, tha' was fast.. was over 'fore it even fuckin' started... definitely heard it before too".

"At least I get some in the meantime, Daryl. You just put yourself in automatic mode to avoid thinking, it's ok though, wasn't calling to give you that speech again", she said sharply.

"Yea, ya better don'. Well, there're these fine woods in 'ere, ya should come an' we can go hunt, hang wit' Soph…"

"I definitely will try to make it this weekend... I'll be texting ya as soon as I know... either way I'll be seeing you soon… bye Daryl, take care and give Soph a hug".

"Alrite, see ya then".

Michonne was the only woman in Daryl's life, and definitely the only female figure Sophia had ever had. The thing was, for Daryl, she was actually more like a male buddy. They'd been schoolmates back there in Senoia since they were about 7, and had ended up bunching together probably because they were the two odd ones out in school: Daryl, the awkward, troubled red neck, son of violent Jack Dixon, and Michonne just for being rude and distant. There were other things they had in common as well: both enjoyed spending times in the woods, away from people, and it was strange how their friendship remained and consisted of the same things even when they started to grow up. They'd be 15 and he'd pick her up from her house on weekends, his crossbow on his back, the katana she stole from her father gripped on her hand, and they'd head to the woods to hunt, make a fire in the night and just stay in silence or talk about random things… the evident changes in both of their bodies apparently unnoticed by the other. Michonne slowly turned into a good looking girl behind that tough appearence and the dreadlocks she left on her hair, and although Daryl did notice how guys started to check her out, he just couldn't see her that way. Ever. Their backgrounds had always been the biggest difference between them though: she came from a wealthy, educated family and as soon as they graduated she headed straight to Gainsville's law school, while Daryl, of course, remained in Senoia dealing with his dad's beatings and with the shitty life he just couldn't seem to get rid of. But they never lost contact and they'd usually talk on the phone and visit each other whenever they could, which became more frequent the day Sophia came in his way. Michonne had probably been the only person to help him out on those first two weeks, and even though she lived in Florida, she'd often come and take care of the girl herself whenever Daryl couldn't or felt he was about to lose it. And that, although he'd never said it to her, had probably been the biggest thing someone had ever done for him. It even meant more with her having lost a pregnancy of her own around ten years ago. His friend had graduated a long time ago, and was now a very succesfull lawyer with a very complicated romantic life. She'd always say men just got scared of her success and independence, and Daryl thought that may be a part of it, but he also knew she could be difficult to be around, and just as hardheaded as he was himself. But she was cool, and in his own, awkward way, he'd do anything for her as well.

* * *

Daryl glanced at a very asleep Sophia out of the corner of his eye while he drove, chuckling at the girl's ability to just curl and sleep anywhere. It was a classic, by now, her sleeping on the truck and getting up only when he pulled over in the school's parking lot.

"Yaw, kiddo... wake up already, we're 'ere." He said, shaking her shoulder. Sophia just rolled her eyes and gave him an annoyed look. Girl was also the moody type in the morning.

"Excited 'bout yer firs' day?" Daryl asked as they walked inside the school.

"Yes, kind of." The girl answered. "I just hope kids are ok here".

"They will be Soph", he said, patting her head. "Hey, Michonne called me today.. told me she might come this weekend. We could go to tha woods, maybe even camp there an' all, what ya say?" he asked her, trying to cheer her up. He figured, for a kid, the first day in a new school could be a whole big deal.

"Yay! I'd like that dad. I miss her so much!" Sophia answered and Daryl smiled, wondering when she'd start rejecting these kind of activities. Probably soon enough.

They were looking for the head's office to announce Sophia's presence when they ran into that cop, Rick… and a boy who looked around Sophia's age right next to him.

"Hey there! Daryl, right?" the officer said, raising his head up. "first day in school?" he asked, turning his attention to Sophia. The girl nodded and the man looked back at Daryl.

"This is my son, Carl. So maybe you guys are in the same class and all."

Daryl nodded at the kid. "Maybe", he mumbled… "we were lookin' fer tha head's office.. ya know, need ta tell 'em Soph's already 'ere an' talk ta 'em a bit".

"Yeah… you just walk straight to the corner, then turn to your left. You'll see it there. School's fine, she's going to like it in here.", he told them both, smiling.

"Thank ya man", Daryl said and watch Carl wave and dissapear in one of the classrooms. Sophia was busy looking around at the different posters that hung on the wall. "Hey, I was thinkin.. ain't really on ma plans by now but.. jus' in case, can ya give me tha number of tha' woman ya said looked after yer kids? Ya sure she's alrite?"

"Yeah, definitely man. Here", he said, grabbing his cell phone and handing it to him. "That's the number, name's Carol, might be in her twenties… she's very nice indeed".

"Thanks", Daryl murmured, writing the number down on his phone. He thought it couldn't hurt having it if something ever happened and he had to leave Sophia alone for a while. Better be cautious.

"Ain't a problem… kids seem to be around the same age, maybe we can get together one of these days, throw a barbecue or something, welcome you to the town".

"Yea, sure", Daryl said absently, and then he realized they were probably late already. "Well, better get goin'… see ya 'round then".

And after talking to the headmaster and walking Sophia to her classroom, Daryl realized people were way friendlier here than in Senoia… probably the only reason being his last name didn't mean a thing in Hainsville. And for that, he was glad. 


	4. Chapter 4

Hi guys, here's another chapter for this little story. I still don't know where I'm taking this but I do know caryl will play at a slow pace...

I hope you like it and as always, thanks for R&R!

* * *

Daryl loved his kid. That definitely didn't mean he was fond of every damn kid he ran into. It was actually quite the oppossite, he thought, as what looked like a herd of children got out their classrooms and ran towards the school door, clearly more than willing to get home, pushing him in their way out. He rolled his eyes. He was trying to play the caring, nice father, getting inside the school to look for her. It's not that he already wasn't, but many teachers tended to have a big mouth and gossip about her being raised by a single, sort of weird looking dad. Whenever the girl caused trouble, which had happened just once now that he thought about it, they'd suggest her being an abandoned child as one of the reasons, and Daryl'd just take a deep breath and try to control his anger. Sophia wasn't a troubled kid at all… she was actually more the shy, friendly type, and she got along with people quiet easily. Sophia wasn't _him. _A few years ago, though, when she was around 8 or 9, some disgusting older girls started to make fun of her clothing. Yes, back then and even now she didn't have exactly a girlish, neat look… that was way beyond Daryl's knowledge even when it came to himself. He'd just buy some random clothes for her at the mall or made her point to the ones she liked, only checking they'd more or less fit. He knew the girl wouldn't be in no fashion contest for her clothing, but he had thought it wasn't that bad, until that day. He was glad by now she was old enough to choose her own clothes. But Sophia, that day, instead of crying over the girls bullying or going to the teacher or even calling him, ended up slapping one of the girls and pushing the other to the floor, running away to their apartment back in Senoia afterwards. Girl was nice but she was a Dixon after all and just like her dad and her uncle she wouldn't let no one mess with her. The next morning Daryl found himself surrounded by the girls' parents and some teachers, who kept giving each other sympathetic looks and saying they understood Sophia's behavior since it might have been hard growing up without a mother's figure, but that he should make sure it didn't happen again. It took everything in him not to stand up and punch the damn people in their faces. He should have probably done it and of course, he never told Merle about it. This school though had actually a nice vibe going on and from their little meeting earlier in the morning and their brief conversation over the phone some weeks ago, he could tell the headmaster was an alright woman who wouldn't allow that kind of shit.

Classrooms were all empty by now and Sophia was nowhere to be seen, so he went outside to check if maybe she wasn't waiting for him in the parking lot. She spotted her then, standing there next to the cop's kid, that Carl boy or something, and a young woman he figured was the man's wife. As he walked towards them he caught bites of the conversation:

"I told my dad I could walk back home! I'm old enough to do that", the boy said in a frustrated tone.

"well, your dad suggested we wait for him here Carl… he'll be pissed at me if I let you just go."

Sophia was standing between them and looking back and forth at them both.

"Yeah well, you remind him I'm 12 already. Don't need anyone looking after me. Nothing personal Carol", he said giggling and the woman playfully messed his hair.

Daryl frowned. It appeared this wasn't the oficcer's wife and if he remembered well Carol was the name of that babysitter the man has mentioned to him earlier. So maybe this Rick guy was also a single parent or maybe he was divorced and this woman was his new girlfriend or something. He couldn't care less either way. He shook his head, trying to stop thinking about the man's private issues, and cleared his throat as he approached them.

The three of them turned around at the same time.

"Hi dad!"

"Hey Soph, how was tha' firs' day huh?" he asked her, brushing his hand lightly on her cheek.

"Awesome. Got tons of homework to do though... you remember Carl right? We were just waiting for his dad to pick him up".

Daryl nodded at the boy who was frowning but smiled lightly when their eyes met.

"How old are you?" the boy asked out of a sudden.

"Huh? What kinda question is tha'?" he answered, chuckling.

"just a question…", the boy murmured and shrugged.

Daryl kneeled down to look at him in the eye.

"I'm 34... wha' bout ya?" he asked, lifting his brows.

"I'm 12. You look younger though, way younger than my dad… I don't know how old he is anyway".

He heard the woman chuckle then and realized he hadn't even introduced himself or said hi to her or anything. Sophia would definitely give him a talk about it later. He turned to face her then and met the bluest eyes he'd ever seen staring back to him.

"Uh, hi, I'm Daryl… this kiddo's pa". He felt uncomfortable by the brightness of her blue eyes locked on his so he dropped his gaze and let his eyes linger on the rest of her face, noticing it was full of tiny freckles. Specially in her nose. It was kind of cute.

"I figured", she said, smiling. "Well, I'm Carol, I look after Judith, his sister, whenever Rick's out working. Are you new in town? I don't think we've met before".

"Yea, we are", he said now resting both his hands on Sophia's shoulders. "Got a job 'ere so we moved outta Senoia an' huh, 'ere we are I guess."

"Well, I hope you like it here". The woman was smiling again and Daryl thought she looked actually very young, maybe in her mid-twenties or early thirties. Either way there was something nice about her or maybe he just hadn't talked to a woman in a long time.

"Yea, well.. better head back home", he said looking down at Sophia. "we're kinda on a rush since I gotta leave ta work in less than an hour". He lifted his eyes to reach her face again and tried to divert his attention from an isolated group of freckles spreaded on the corner of her lips.

"Ok then. It was nice meeting you, both of you", she said now staring at Sophia and smiling at her.

* * *

"I think I don't like Carl", Sophia stated as Daryl drove them back home, which got him laughing as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"No shit.. why? Looks nice 'nough ta me."

"Well..", she said, looking up as if she was thinking. "he thinks he knows it all, you know, like... whenever I say something he gives me this look, like if he'd already knew what I was going to say before I even said it… and he only paid attention to me when I was telling this other girl you teached me how to use the crossbow".

"Wha' did he say?"

"Said it was cool, then told everyone how this friend of his dad took him once to practice how to shoot... like, guns", she said, making a disgusted face.

"Crossbow beats guns.. all tha damn way", Daryl commented absently although he found the whole story amusing. "he ain' old 'nough ta learn how ta use 'em anyway".

"Yes, that's what I told him. Then I ask him if I could stick with him for lunch, you know.. since I don't know anyone just yet, and he shakes his head, tells me he usually has lunch with this guy who's already in high school, some Patrick guy.. and he takes off".

Daryl chuckled, used by now to the little school drama chat Sophia brought home every day.  
"So ya had lunch on yer own?"

"Hell no! I bunched up with some girls from my biology class."

"Glad ya did. Now listen Soph.. I gotta be in the restaurant like… in an hour, so as soon as we get home ya shower an' do whateva ya gotta do to get ready."

Sophia turned to look at him and frowned. "Where are you leaving me?" Back in Senoia she'd stay with Merle when he got to work. He knew how much she liked it when he didn't have other options other than bringing her along to the restaurant, but it normally didn't happen.

"Ain' leavin ya anywhere, yer comin' wit' me. "'til we figure out how ta handle this that is."

He sighed and hoped Dale didn't mind. It usually wasn't that big of a deal and Sophia just sneaked in the kitchen and he'd assign her some easy task to do to entretain herself. The kitchen assistants usually found her cute and they ended up chatting with her and teaching her how to do this or that; then she'd get bored and sit somewhere to do her homework or something, falling asleep before he was finished and he'd carry her back to the truck. But that only happened on the few days Merle for some reason couldn't look after her, and he was sure it wouldn't work as an every day thing. She'd be falling asleep in school and it was no good life style for a 12 year old kid anyway. Funny thing was that was actually the exact reason why Sophia enjoyed doing it: it made her feel like an adult or something. Maybe she was old enough to stay alone in the house for a few hours until he got back, but he wasn't sure. He ran his hand through his hair as he struggled with himself, but then he decided he'd just see how it went that night.

And the night went smoothly, even better than what he'd have expected for his first day. It usually took some time until he got used to the kitchen, to where all things were and the assistants' pace, but Dale had definitely made sure to hire some working people. Nobody was wasting their times inside the kitchen, even though it was a Monday night and the place wasn't crowded like he'd been told it got from Wednesdays to Sundays. The main assistant, an afroamerican man who everyone called T-Dog, had apparently liked Sophia and as soon as they got there he put her to pour cream over some berries. There was also the delivery man, some corean, funny guy named Glenn or something, and a few waitresses, including the blonde woman, Andrea, he'd met that first day he showed up at the place. What he liked the most about being in the kitchen was there was usually little time to random talk, conversation only consisting in simple commands and requests he felt more comfortable with. It was practical just as how he was himself: you mix A with B to obtain C; with no possible misinterpretations or overthinking, so unlike real life.

Sophia had announced she was tired at around 10 pm, and Daryl took her to the truck so she could get some sleep. He hated that she had to sleep on the truck, but oh well. He was suppossed to be out at 11.30, but one thing or another got him getting in his truck at 12.15. He shook his head. This wasn't good. He didn't mind getting 3 or 5 hours of sleep, he was damn used to it anyway, but he didn't think Sophia would make it to Friday with this rythm. He'd probably just have to call the freckled girl, Carol… maybe three times a week would work, and he could bring Soph with him the other days. The woman had seemed nice enough to him anyway. He frowned when the image of her blue eyes appeared in his head... as if he didn't have more important things to think about.

It'd just been a long day.


	5. Chapter 5

Here's another chapter guys. This is going to be slow paced, but we're getting to the caryl even though they won't be together for a while...

I hope you like it and thank you for R&R!

S.-

* * *

"Shit", Daryl said out loud the second he opened his eyes. He jumped out the bed and picked up the clock he figured he'd threw to the floor when the alarm'd rang. The light outside told him it was way beyond 7 am and when he checked on the clock he was cursing again.

8.30 was the time Sophia started school. Fifteen minutes ago. And when they finally get there it'd probably be 9 already. He kept cursing and shaking his head as he put on the first pair of pants he found and ran to the girl's bedroom to wake her up. Sophia was curled up on one side and sleeping deeply, completely anaware of being late. He shook her shoulder but the girl just pushed his hand away and covered herself with the sheets, planning to keep that way.

"Soph, we're way late… c'mon, up", he insisted, almost lifting her up. This time the girl opened her eyes, blinking several times to adjust to the light, and stretched herself. She seemed to be in no hurry.

"Said we're late kiddo, c'mon, ya got like.. 1 minute ta get dressed, gonna fix ya some breakfast to go."

Daryl stayed in the bedroom for a few seconds to make sure she actually got up, and then he ran to the kitchen and quickly fixed a jam and cheese sandwich, hoping it'd be enough. He grabbed a cereal bar and filled a glass with orange juice before heading to the hallway to search for the keys and get the hell out. Sophia showed up a few minutes later and Daryl wondered if she'd even washed her face. Had they had more time he'd have told her to comb her hair or do something about it, but he pretended it was alright and only stopped to ask her if she got all her stuff before heading outside.

The ride went on in complete silence since Sophia wasn't exactly a chatty person in the morning and Daryl was particularly in a bad mood for having woken up so late. It was way unlike him, but these past days have also been specially stressful and now that he thought about it he doubted he'd had more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep over the last week. He'd never thought he'd actually feel like this, but he definitely missed Merle. Merle, who most of the time didn't do anything other than just being there, hanging around in the house whenever he wasn't working or getting wasted at some local bar… but it was exactly what Daryl had needed: just someone who cared for her to be there whenever he couldn't, or whenever he felt like locking himself in his room for an hour, or going for a hunt or to the local bar where he could get back to his old self for a while and swear, curse, yell… because there was also that part about being a parent: he couldn't let his own demons come out around the girl, and hell he'd got some. Ever since Sophia came in his way, he'd felt it wasn't about dealing with them, he hardly had the time to do it… it was about shutting them off… was about understanding it didn't matter anyway because it wasn't and it was never going to be about just you anymore. The thought of taking care of someone scared the shit out of him at first, and it still did… even though he'd figured it out somehow. It scared him because he didn't feel capable of it, and he wouldn't have minded messing up with his own life, which was actually what he'd always been doing and had been a mess to begin with, ever since he was inside his mama's belly. But he couldn't allow it with hers, wouldn't let his shitty life threaten hers. He'd tried like he'd never tried before with any damn thing, succedding at times… watching her grow, turn into a happy kid… turn into _someone better than him. _She'd turned him better, and Merle too… she'd became some sort of thread holding them in place, a boomerang effect giving back to him everything he'd do for her and more, without her even trying or being aware of it, just by existing. He guessed it was part of that weird love bond between a parent and a child, something he had never known about until being a parent himself.

"Soph, this ain't gonna work ya know? you comin' to tha restaurant every day".

"It was you who didn't wake me up, I don't set the alarm… that's your job. And I'm fine, I don't feel tired at all", the girl said sharply, looking absently through the window.

"You can't stay up 'till 12.30 every god damn day Soph, it jus' ain't righ'… we're gonna have ta figure somethin' out, prob'ly find someone ta stay wit' ya 'til i get back".

Sophia crossed her arms against her chest and rolled her eyes.

"I'm 12, dad… I don't need anyone staying with me. I'll be fine. Besides, I like going to the restaurant, it's more fun than staying in the house doing nothing."

"I know yer 12, tha' don't mean ya can stay on yer own though, ya need someone ta fix ya dinner an' hang out wit' ya.. I'm tellin' ya, yer not going to work wit' me, not every day at least".

"You can't make that decision over me!" Sophia yelled, and Daryl sighed, feeling she was going to throw out whatever feelings she might have been holding about this whole new situation.

"Hey, kiddo, cool off.. all I'm sayin' is we might be callin' this Carol woman ta stay wit' ya three times a week, jus' a few hours 'til I get back.. will be better for ya."

"It'd be better for me if Merle was around", the girl mumbled and Daryl noticed she was about to cry.

"Tha' ain' happenin' Soph.. ya know tha', it sucks but it's jus' how it is. Now ya think 'bout it and we'll talk when I pick ya up from school", he said calmly, stopping the car for her to get down.

Sophia didn't look at him and she opened the car's door and got out, smashing it behind her as she left. Daryl watched her leave, shaking his head, hating that the girl could be as hot tempered as he was at times.

* * *

Daryl wandered around the city, having done what needed to be done like paying bills, contracting a phone line and all that kind of shit he hated doing. He figured since there were a few hours ahead before having to pick Sophia up, he could go to the woods, check what was there to hunt, have some alone time and relax. There were some nice woods not that far away from his own house and he felt like his back ached for the weight of his crossbow… the tracks, the silence, the target you only reached if your mind was free of all the things that were filling it right now.  
His mind was drifting from Merle to the thought of getting Sophia some pet, as he let the smoke of his cigarrete out his mouth and watched it dissipate on the air while he waited for the traffic lights to turn green. And then he spotted the freckled wide blue-eyed woman, Carol, right there crossing the street, dressed in some kind of sportive outfit. And she was chatting animatedly with non other than the blonde waitress, Andrea. For some reason he wished they didn't see him or he could just fade away until they crossed the street and got out of his sight, just the idea of awkwardly waving at them making him blush. He turned his head and fixed his eyes on the window, thinking that if he looked to the front it'd attract their gaze towards him somehow. The light turned green and he watched them walk as he drove. Carol's arms were moving exaggeratedly as she told Andrea who knew what, and he couldn't help noticing how thin the woman was, the sleeves of her baggy t-shirt hanging and swaying along the movement of her arms. It was strange because he had found himself thinking for a second about her eyes earlier, thinking how they were a kind of blue he'd never seen before… and they'd made him feel, for the brief moment they'd fixed on his, he could actually see through them, as if there couldn't be no darkness about her. He remembered then he was supossed to call her later, even though the idea made him nervous. He was the kind of guy who'd freak out over a simple phone call, specially if it involved talking to a woman, but he guessed this was also what this new place implied: interacting with new people. He sighed. Maybe hearing the soft tone of a woman's voice would do him good anyway.

* * *

The brief hunting expedition had gone pretty well and in only two hours he'd gotten a few squirrels and one chubby rabbit. He smiled to himself at the thought of Sophia's face, who just loved rabbit stew. He hoped it'd help her get along with the idea of a babysitter. He had promised himself on the way back home he'd call the woman right away. Maybe she'd just say she was busy and he'd have to find someone else, but whoever ended up doing it, he needed them to start tomorrow. He wished she could make it, though, since he had good references of her and since, for some reason, he just liked the expression of those eyes.

The phone rang several times before she actually answered, and when she did she sounded like in a hurry.

"Hello?" she said in a low voice.

"Yea, um, hi. It's Daryl, ya know, we met yesterd.." she interrupted him before he even finished the word.

"Hi Daryl! Sophia's dad right? Yes, I remember you. Rick told me he gave you my number." She was actually talking very low and he could hear there were people around.

"Yea, huh.. seems like a bad time ta call ya. Want me ta call ya later? Was about Sophia, was wonderin' if ya could look after 'er a few days a week."

He heard her chuckle.

"No, it's fine.. I was in a class, stepped outside for a moment. So you want me to look after her? Which days would that be? I could do it but I have to make sure it doesn't clash with Carl and Jude."

He wondered who the hell Carl and Jude were before realizing she was talking about Rick's children.

"Yea, well... it'd be tomorrow an' Friday nigh' fer sure.. then we can see."

"I'm free tomorrow", she stated. "Will have to talk to Rick about Friday, it usually varies."

"Alrite then… gotta give ya the address, it's Old sunbury road", he scratched his jaw as he tried to remember the house number. "damn, I don' remember tha fu.. freakin' number. I'll text it to ya later."

This time she laughed lightly and he frowned, thinking he was probably making a fool of himself.

"Sound just fine to me… so what time you want me to be there?"

"6 pm alrite wit' ya? I usually get back 'round midnigh'."

"Definitely. I'll be there at 6 pm. If you send me the street number, that is."

He chuckled this time. "Yea, will do.." and without saying anything else he hung up. Well, that actually went out smoothly. And her voice'd been the soft tune he'd thought it was gonna be.


	6. Chapter 6

I'm so busy I have little time to read and write FF, which sucks :/ here's another little chapter though, which I hope you like. Please forgive me for the eventual grammar/spelling mistakes... I'm spanish and it gets hard sometimes!

R&R and see you soon!

S.-

* * *

"I'm so looking forward to the insights into Daryl Dixon's private life, you just have no idea!" Andrea said as she watched Carol cross the dining room wrapped in a towel and head to her room to change, leaving the door open so she could talk to Andrea as she did.

They'd been living together for the last 3 years now, ever since Carol got rid of Ed. They got along fine enough and they only ran into each other at night, after they both finished their activities, which was a good thing to avoid getting tired of the other. On Tuesdays and Thursday's mornings though they'd take yoga classes together, something Carol was still not convinced about but Andrea had pretty much dragged her into it.  
It'd first been about sharing a house, cheapening costs, but despite being so different they ended up becoming good friends. Andrea's chaotic life contrasted quite a bit with Carol's neat organization, but through the years they'd manage to set some rules and reach some sort of balance that suited them both.

Carol rolled her eyes as she picked up the first t- shirt that came in her way.

"I can't believe you and Maggie spent the last days fantasyzing all kind of shit about the man's life.", she yelled from her room.

A few days ago Andrea came home and told Carol everything about the new sous-chef guy, which Carol already knew, at least part of it, because she'd had that conversation with Maggie the day she did her nails. She knew Hinsville could get pretty boring at times and whenever someone moved in it'd become the new conversation topic, but she still didn't understand how Andrea could have so many things to say about someone she'd barely spoken to, since one of the first things she'd said was the guy was shy and kept to himself. And now they were carrying out some sort of ridiculous research to find out who the man's wife or partner was, because they already knew he had a daugther but they hadn't seen her mama around. And Carol found the whole thing funny at times but also pretty dumb and nosy. She'd been the gossiping target before herself, when she was stuck with Ed and everyone talked about him beating her but didn't care enough to offer help, and it just hadn't been nice.

And she incidentally ended up meeting him the day after, when she went to Carl's school so that Rick gave her a ride to his house since she was looking after the children that night. Andrea and Maggie had talked so much about him she even recognized him before she caught his name, and the first thing she thought… was it didn't seem to her he was any of what her friends'd said. The way they'd portaited him made her think of a tough, hot tattoed guy, and yes he was good looking, she had to admit that… and maybe he looked a little rough too, but there was this shyness in his eyes and in the way he balanced on his feet as he stood behind his daughter, that got her thinking there were other things about this man. It was strange how he'd avoided making eye contact with her, as if he was aware of how his eyes spoke things about him he didn't want to share.

Carol stepped outside her room and walked to the dining room's table to pick up her notes and books since she figured the girl would probably fall asleep at some point and it'd give her some time to study.

"Alright, I'm leaving. Ready to reveal the mistery, just so you guys leave the man alone for a while", she said, chuckling.

Andrea was laying on the couch, her eyes closed, but she opened them right away when she heard Carol's voice next to her and looked her up and down.

"Is that really what you're wearing?" she asked in desbelief.

Caro looked down at her sweat pants and baggy old black t-shirt and shrugged. "Uh, yeah? Something wrong? He didn't ask me on a date, Andrea... I'm looking after his kid, need to be comfortable."

Andrea shook her head in dissaproval. Carol's lack of interest when it came to clothing was just one of the things that made them so different, but for Andrea, it seemed it meant a lot. Carol couldn't care less anyway.

She grabbed her purse along with her notes and books and walked out the door, waving Andrea good bye as she left.

* * *

She knocked several times and even checked on her phone again the street number Daryl'd texted her earlier. Soon enough though she heard steps inside and the front door opened.

The first thing Carol noticed when she came face to face to him was the upper buttons of his white long sleeved shirt were unbuttoned, as if he'd been dressing when she'd knocked the door. She felt maybe he noticed her staring because he started to button them with one hand, a cigarrete hanging from his other as he motioned with his head for her to come inside.

"Sorry, hi", he mumbled, "am kinda late as usual".

Carol just nodded understandingly as she watched him walk around the dining room until he finally sat on one of the chairs, so she figured she'd sit as well. She couldn't help looking all around, thinking his probably beautiful looking wife would show up any time, but the house was in complete silence.

"So, um.. Soph's in 'er room now, she ain'… so happy I guess 'bout not goin' ta the restauran' wit' me, dontcha worry though, she ain't no trouble… she'll pro'bly show up as soon as she hears me leave", he told her, fixing his eyes on an ashtray that laid on the table but glancing at her a few times as he spoke.

"that's not a problem", she said, smiling. "it happens with Carl, all the time, must be the age… they feel old enough to stay on their own and all that", she offered, searching for his eyes which were still fixed somewhere else.

"Yea.. she jus' ain't used ta either, pretty much always been tha two of us", he stopped speaking then wondering why the hell he was giving her all this information, when he actually hated when people asked about it or brought the subject up. He shook his head and stood up. "Anyway, there's tha kitchen ova' there, got some snacks an' macarroni and cheese in tha fridge, ya jus' grab whateva' ya want.. hope it's ok if I ask ya ta fix some dinner fer 'er, fer both of ya, she likes 'em macarroni."

She tried to listen to him but was hearing instead Andrea's and Maggie's voices after she told them the man clearly didn't have no wife, and for what he'd said, it sounded like he'd had to raise Sophia on his own.

She realized she hadn't said anything back to him so she nodded quickly.

"Yes, sure… I can fix something for her, should I um.. go get her if she doesn't show up?"

She saw him bring his thumb nail to his mouth and frown as he thought about her question.

"Yea, I guess ya can.. I'm thinkin' she'll get outta 'er room soon 'nough though", he told her, walking back to the dining room, probably ready to leave.

Carol followed him since she didn't know what else to do and watched him open the front door and turn to look at her before taking off.

"There's um, tha tv ove' there, jus'… feel free ta do whateva' tha hell ya want". He glanced at her once more and gave her some kind of half smile before closing the door behind him.

Carol sighed once Daryl left, wandering and looking all around the house. It was a pretty nice place which was still too empty probably because they'd just moved in. She thought those walls could use some paintings but then again she figured decoration probably wasn't one of his main interests or concerns. A framed picture, the only one in the house as far as she knew, over the TV table caught her attention and she walked over and picked it up. It was apparently one of those pictures you took with a webcam and it showed a younger Sophia sticking her tongue out next to a man who resembled her of Daryl a lot, only a bit bigger and older, making some sort of funny face. Probably Daryl's brother, she thought, putting the picture back in place and looking all around, feeling kind of guilty for sneaking over his stuff. She sat on the couch then and decided she'd wait 30 more minutes for Sophia to show up, otherwise she'd knock on her door. She was going through the pages of one of her art books but she found she actually couldn't stop thinking about the man. She remembered when she'd been with Ed, and he beated her and she knew people knew he beated her, she just couldn't bring herself to look people in the eye, as if she was ashamed of it, of her, and scared of finding that shame on other people's gaze too. For some reason she thought she'd seen that in Daryl's eyes too, in the way he'd avoided her gaze, as if he thought of other people as a threat and tried to protect himself of them.

She chuckled. She was just acting like Andrea and Maggie and probably the three of them were just too fond on drama and too bored of their own lifes. She shook her head, waving off the thoughts of this man she barely knew anyway, and who was probably a plain happy guy who just wasn't very talkative or friendly because he simply didn't care about being friends with her.

It was then when she heard a door open and figured it was Sophia finally coming out of her bedroom. She sat straight in the couch and waited, suddenly nervous.

"Hi", the girl said shily, standing in front of her and shifting on her feet just like his dad had been doing earlier.

"Hi Sophia", Carol said with a smile. "How are you?"

"My dad left already, right?" she asked, turning her head to look through the window.

"Yes, he did. I'll be staying with you though until he gets back. We can hang around, watch a movie or just do whatever you want".

"I'm not mad at you", the girl added, looking at her. "I just like it when I go to the restaurant, it's fun." She sat on the couch next to Carol and turned her body so that she was facing her.

"I bet it is… I just imagine he doesn't want you going to bed late, maybe you don't like it now but it ends up working better for the both of you."

The girl just stared at her and brought her thumb to her mouth. Carol chuckled at how identical her expressions and gestures to those of her dad's were, only in a smaller, cuter package. And the eyes, her eyes were exactly the same shape and colour of her dad's, but there wasn't that shy, sad expression on them.

"Maybe", she said after a minute. "I just, been trying hard not to get mad about us moving here, I know how my dad worries. I like it here but… I miss Senoia too." The girl opened her eyes wide as if she'd just said something she shouldn't have, and it gave Carol the impression she needed to talk.

"It's ok to get mad, every now and then… and there's nothing like home.." Carol offered. "But this will become your home too, you'll see". She smiled to her and saw her smile back and lay more comfortably on the couch, but she remained silent.

"So, do you want us to watch a movie while we have dinner? Your dad told me you liked macarroni and cheese".

"I do", the girl said with a grin and Carol was glad she seemed to loosen up so quickly. "Can we watch pirates of the caribbean though? my daddy got tired of it, he won't watch it anymore."

"are you kidding me? Definitely! I just love Johnny Depp", Carol said, winking at her and standing up to head to the kitchen. She heard Sophia laugh behind her and smiled. However this man was it seemed he'd done a good job raising such a nice kid.

* * *

Daryl got home later than the day before, and even more tired too. He yawned as he opened the front door, noticing how dark it was inside the house. He panicked for a few seconds but then he stepped inside and his mouth turned instantly into a grin. The TV was on, which gave enough light to spot Sophia spreaded on the couch, her head on Carol's lap, who was sitting with her head leaned on the couch's arm rester, both deeply asleep.

He quietly walked towards them, but he must have made some noise, because Carol's eyes opened widely and even though it was dark, he thought he saw her blush.

"Sorry", she mumbled, but Daryl just nodded at her, lifting his thumb up, wondering what the hell she was apologyzing for. He bented over them, watching Carol's face turn into a confused expression and then soften as he lifted Sophia up and carried her to her bedroom.

When he walked back to the dining room, the lights were on and Carol was already up and standing awkwardly next to the door.

"I'm sorry", she said again, and now he was pretty sure her face was flash red. "I guess I should have taken her to bed".

"Wha' tha hell yer sorry fer?" he asked her, amused. "'s all good, looks ya got along pretty damn well".

"Oh, I didn't have to do anything. She's just such an easy kid to be around". She saw him give her that half smile she'd seen before, and couldn't help noticing how his eyes narrowed when he smiled, making him look even more handsome.

"Yea, she is.. nothin' like 'er dad", he commented with a chuckle. "guess ya gotta leave, lemme give ya a ride".

Carol found herself smiling again and happy to see him so talkative. She was about to tell him she thought he was as nice as his daugther but she stopped herself. That gorgeous gaze of his was getting her light headed and thinking of stupid ideas.

"Oh no, don't worry, I can take a cab. I don't live far away, we're good", she said, waving her hand on the air.

Daryl shook his head. "We ain't good, I still gotta pay ya… an' it ain't big deal, c'mon."

He was smiling again and so did she, and she didn't bother this time to fight it since he was behind her and couldn't see it. She thought it was going to be fun, looking after a cute girl plus checking out her hot dad every now and then.


	7. Chapter 7

This is a rather short chapter but it's necessary for the story's development. We will have more Caryl as we move on with this story, but I hope you like this one too!

We don't celebrate thanksgiving here but I hope those of you who do have a happy thanksgiving!

And as always, thank you for R&R! I love it every time I get one :)

Hugs!

S.-

* * *

Daryl was actually in a great mood. It was Friday which meant nothing to him since he still worked on Friday's and Saturday's nights, but at least he didn't have to wake up so early the next morning to take Sophia to school. But the good thing actually was... Michonne had confirmed him last night she was coming and staying for the weekend, just by texting him he should pick her up from the bus station at 10 am. He wondered why in hell hadn't she came in her car but it wasn't that important anyway. He was walking back to his truck after leaving Sophia at school, hoping they hadn't left the tent behind when they'd been packing the stuff to move, when he bumped into Rick, the friendly officer who was already smiling in front of him.

"Hey man, I was hoping I'd run into you!" he said cheerfully, punching him lightly on his shoulder.

"Really? Why's tha'?" Daryl asked, realizing he could have added more emotion to his voice.

"No, nothing important", the man told him, chuckling. "was just thinking about that barbecue… think you guys can make it on Sunday?"

"Umm, yea.. sure.. I mean, why not..", he said, feeling himself blush and silently cursing, one more time, his lack of social skills. "a friend's coming ta visit this weekend though, hope 's alrite if she goes too."

"Of course, not a problem at all. It's actually refreshing, seeing new faces."

Rick gave him his address and they exchanged a few more words before Daryl excused himself and took off, eager to find that tent or buy another one if it happened not to be there. It was only after seeing him that he realized he wouldn't be needing Carol to look after Sophia that night, since Michonne was going to be there. And he didn't know why, but the idea got him frowning. He had to recognize he'd been thinking about the woman, ever since that other night he ended up taking her home, figuring it'd be ok to leave Sophia alone for 10 minutes. And they'd barely talked, or he'd barely talked anyway… because she'd tried to bring up some conversation but he'd found himself struggling with words, even though her questions had mostly consisted on his work and whether he liked it here, but he was an idiot like that. She did tell him though she studied art,  
and he'd thought it suited her even though he didn't know her at all. And her eyes had looked even bluer under the pale light of the moon when she fixed them on his for a second before getting out the truck. He shook his head to brush the thoughts away, feeling a little creepy for having a woman's eyes stuck on his mind, and he knew it was probably due to the fact he just wasn't used to having women his age around. He was a loner and he'd always been ok with that, but he supossed he was also a man who reacted somewhat to women's presence.

* * *

"Yer still the cool lawyer wit' dreadlocks", Daryl said smiling when he spotted Michonne standing there, with only a little bag in her hands.

"And you're still the unsleeved redneck chef… see? We manage to remain the odd ones out."

He chuckled. "glad yer 'ere though, as weird as it sounds it was drivin' me fuckin' crazy.. not talkin' ta anyone other than Soph. Was even missin' Merle." He told her as they walked towards his truck.

"Don't tell me you didn't find yourself a girlfriend already", she said teasingly as they got inside the truck.

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Wha's up wit' yer car anyway huh?"

"It's on sell. Just felt it was about time", she told him, glancing at him and supressing a laugh.

"Jesus, chonne! Ya got it.. wha'? 3 months ago? Thought tha' behavior only involved yer relationships."

She laughed out loudly this time. "It just works the same way... with car and men. Whenever I get one, I get the feeling there's another one better out there."

"Yer fucked up. Jus' dontcha give Soph tha' brillian' advice."

"I was just thinking the other day she will start looking for advice in the matter anytime soon", she commented.

"Yea well, hope she finds a better model than maself, Merle or ya by then…", he told her, and they both laughed. "there's tha sheriff's kid she became friends wit' or some shit, hope tha lil' fucker keeps 'is distance."

"oh oh. Are they classmates or what?"

"I think so, yea. His dad 's one of tha few people I talk ta these days.. and tha' restaurant's staff and this woman who looks after Soph a few days a week."

He didn't know why the hell he was bringing her name up, but it sort of just slided out his mouth. Luckily though, Michonne didn't ask further questions and they just drove in silence until they got home.

* * *

Sophia was thrilled about having Michonne around, and that was enough to have a happy, smiling-more-than-usual Daryl. They'd picked her up from school and gone for an ice-cream before Daryl had to go to the restaurant, but he'd told them to show up in _The Oak _later, since they could have dinner for free and he supossed it was one of those things people liked doing on Friday nights. He'd also asked Michonne to take Sophia to buy some decent clothes first though, figuring some kind of girl time or whatever might do the girl good.

And things were just crazy in the restaurant so even when they got there he'd barely had time to sit with them. The place had been crowded since all night long; some people coming for dinner while others just ordered drinks in a constant changeover that was driving him insane. At 10 pm though things got calmer and he sneaked out of the kitchen and joined them for a few minutes. Sophia was eating her second ice-cream in the day while Michonne had a glass of wine in her hands.

"I love this place Daryl.. and the food, I'll just never get tired of your food, so damn good", she commented, tapping her belly with her hands.

"Damn straigh it is.." he said, smirking cockily as he saw Andrea approach them and figured he could order a beer and drink it quickly before going back to work.

"Sneaking out of work huh?" she told him with a conspirational smile, and then fixed her eyes on Michonne and glanced at her a little longer than necessary in Daryl's opinion. She was afroamerican so there was virtually no way of taking her for Sophia's mama, but he was used to people assuming they were a couple or something and he got the feeling that was exactly what Andrea was thinking.

"yea, kinda", he said, smirking. "jus' drinkin' a beer and breathin' before headin' back ta work, pretty damn crazy tonigh'."

"Alright.. I will bring you a beer then. And if you think tonight's crazy… just wait until tomorrow. Anything for the lady?" she asked looking in Michonne's direction again.

"Oh no, the lady's just fine with her wine.", Michonne told her, smiling, and Andrea gave her one more glance and turned around.

"Nice", Michonne commented, smirking at Daryl. "And she flirts with you, big time".  
Sophia laughed.

"I thought that too, ever since the first day we met her", the girl said, which got Daryl's brows raising and his jaw dropping a bit.

"Pfff, shut up, both of ya", Daryl said, rolling his eyes and making a napkin ball he threw at Sophia. "She thinks yer ma date 'chonne. Ain't my type anyway."

Michonne gave him a look as if she'd wanted to say something but wouldn't in front of Sophia, and Andrea showed up again, handing Daryl a beer can, which Daryl drank in one sip.

"Well, better head back ta work... ya go get me if yer leavin", he told them both before standing up and heading back to the kitchen.

Things had gotten calmer in the restaurant, to the point he could even sit and fix himself something to eat, which he usually forgot to do in his working hours even though there was good food all over the place. She watched Andrea again as she came with some orders and suddenly stood by his side, leaning against a counter.

"Watcha doin'?" he asked her as he ate.

"Just killing some time before going back to the noise out there", she said in a tired voice. "So, I heard Carol's looking after your girl", she commented then.

Daryl looked up at her and frowned. "How in hell ya'd know tha'?"

"I live with her, Daryl", she told him, matter-of-factly.

"I didn' fuckin' know tha'", he said absently, the damn woman's eyes filling his head again. So she lived with Andrea and even though he'd just moved to this city everyone seemed to be related to everyone just like in any damn place.

"Well, you do know. Anyway, going back to the tables. Enjoy your night Daryl, looks to me you've gotten yourself some nice company", and she left before he could think of something to answer her back.

"Nosy bitch", he cursed in a low voice but heard a chuckle behind him and turned around to see a smirking T-Dog washing the dishes and pretending he hadn't heard a thing.


	8. Chapter 8

Hi guys! here's another chapter for you. I know we're moving slow and I hope you don't mind, it feels to me the right pace for this story. I (used to, lol) like Rick and his bond with Daryl on the show so we'll have that here too, and Andrea... don't judge her just yet, I like her too.

I'm nervous about tomorrow's episode so it's just cool I can come here, read and write our fave characters in different scenarios, so thanks to all of you who write this amazing stories I just love!

This chapter was supossed to be uploaded yesterday but I had problems with my internet connection, so I will throwing another one later.

Thanks for R&R! have a nice weekend!

Hugs.

S.-

* * *

"What are you doing here on a Friday night?"

Carol was laying on the couch in her pijamas, watching tv with a huge popcorn bowl in her hands when Andrea got back, at around 1 in the morning.

She shrugged. "I was just killing the time. Didn't feel like going out, I called Maggie to come but she was seeing Glenn, she told Hershel she's sleeping over here, again", she said with a chuckle.

"Oh my, she's going to give that old man a heart attack one of these days", Andrea said absently, sitting next to her on the couch.

Carol smiled thoughtfully. "Hershel knows, he knows more Maggie gives him credit for. How was work anyway?"

"Just damn tiring, I need a vacation, good thing's tomorrow's my free night", she said, leaning further against the couch. "Daryl was there though", she added with a smirk.

"Figured, Andrea, he works there." Carol rolled her eyes at her and offered her the popcorn bowl.

"Yeah, I know", she said, giggling and filling her hand with popcorn that went inmediately to her mouth. "Bad news are… there was this hot, exotic woman in the restaurant with Sophia.. Whenever he had some time off he'd go and sit with them... at least we revealed the mistery I guess."

"Really?" Carol asked now, sitting straight and for some reason becoming more interested in the whole conversation.

"Yep. I mean.. she sure as hell isn't Sophia's mother, but they're probably together, what would she be doing there otherwise? Sitting with her daugther and all"

"Could be a lot of things Andrea.. his friend, his sister in law, hell I don't know.. why do we even care about this anyway?!" she asked her, laying her back against the couch again.

She didn't care, not really… she thought, as she looked at the cieling and remembered the few minutes they'd spent together when he took her back home. It was just that sometimes she got caught up in Maggie's and Andrea's conversation simply because it was fun, and because she thought, too, there was something interesting about the man, that went beyond who the hell he dated. She definitely didn't know him much, but she'd always thought first impressions were the most important ones, if you read them well. If she'd only read it well some years ago when she'd met Ed… Ed was the extreme example of an asshole in her list… and even with what'd happened to her, she'd gotten to understand not all men were like him. There were other issues about a violent man. She still noticed, though, most men, or most people, really, were always trying to impress the others; Ed's idiot friends and even other people she knew and liked, like Shane Walsh or Rick himself, at times… or even Andrea who was probably concerned because Daryl was apparently not responding to her flirtatious glances and comments. It was what they did… their way to feel better, wanted, recognized, she guessed. And maybe she'd also been like that before Ed happened, before she felt like hiding and remaining unnoticed by the rest of the world. She was working on that, because she knew it wasn't right, she knew part of those feelings were Ed's fault… but it just felt safer for now. And when she'd met Daryl, and they'd exchanged a few words, the first thing she noticed was the man wasn't trying to impress her but actually quite the oppossite. And she found it impressive that he was a chef, that he was raising a 12 year old daughter on his own… she even found his strong arms impressive, and the way the man looked. And still, he'd just look down, smile shily, even blush a few times, and she couldn't help getting the feeling he probably had his own reasons to hide, like herself.

"So, what you say I make a move on him?"  
Andrea's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"What?!" she barked, because she hadn't heard her well and if she'd said what she thought she'd said, then she didn't like the idea either.

"I was just saying… I don't know, or maybe you should give it a shot too. I'd say Maggie but she's head over heels with Glenn, even though she doesn't admit it."

Carol gave her a sharp look.

"Why don't you just drop it, Andrea? I mean, if you want to make a move on him, then go ahead… it's a free country, but I think he's probably been through enough trouble with women since he's raising a kid on his own. Why don't you find another guy to mess with? He's got a kid, I just… I don't think it's right, and you said it yourself, he's probably with this woman… this little obsession with this man, I'm just done with."

She didn't know why she'd gotten so mad over Andrea's comment. There was a new good looking guy in town, Andrea was single and she had every reason to just go for it if she felt like, and he probably wouldn't have no reason to reject the offer either. He seemed the shy type but a guy that looked like him probably had his way around women… even though he had a daugther, that didn't turn him into a priest, and she didn't know why she was making such a big deal over this anyway.

Andrea was just staring at her, mouth wide opened and a slightly offended expression in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Andrea", she told her, holding her hand. "I'm just tired and in a bad mood, I'm… going to go ahead and get some sleep."

"It's alright", Andrea said smiling slightly as she watched her go. "Hey Carol"

Carol turned around before entering her room.

"Rick invited us to lunch on Sunday, in his house. He said it's not for you to look after his kids, just to spend some time together. I told him we might make it."

"Sure, sounds like a nice Sunday plan", she smiled to her and got in her bedroom, falling asleep as soon as she hit the bed.

* * *

Daryl was, as usual, feeling uncomfortable as he shook the cop's hand and got inside his house, Michonne and Sophia right behind him. He'd even forgotten to introduce his friend, which Michonne did herself right away. She wasn't the most friendly person in the world but she definitely didn't have Daryl's issues and could actually be very nice when she wanted.

Sophia and Carl quickly settled on the couch in front of the playstation, which made Daryl chuckle. They used to have one back in Senoia and it'd became quite an addiction to Merle and Daryl when it was suppossed to be Sophia's 11 birthday present. They barely let the girl play, and Merle had begged Daryl to keep it so he'd convinced Sophia not to take it with them.

He couldn't avoid noticing the house was full of pictures, everywhere, of a pretty, though too thin woman, alone, with Rick, with Carl… and it was then when Daryl understood the man'd probably lost his wife, judging from the 1 or 2 year old baby Rick was holding right next to him, not so long ago. He saw Michonne look at the pictures too and then back at Daryl, who just motioned her to step outside, where lunch was supossed to take place. Rick went straight to the kitchen after greeting them and Daryl figured he should at least offer some help, so he stood up and headed inside.

"Need some help ove' ere?" he asked him, looking around the kitchen and noticing there were a couple of that woman's pictures in there too.

"No, no, I'm good…" Rick said, checking on the oven. "I just realize I invited a chef to lunch, I'm kind of worried now", he told him with a smile.

"It's alrite man.. nice ta have someone cook instead of me every now an' then, watcha makin'?"

"Well, I was going to go for a barbecue but then I changed my mind, made roasted chicken, smashed potatoes. It's Carl's favorite."

"Sounds damn good ta me.." he commented, opening one of the beer cans Michonne had stopped to buy before heading to the house.

"That's Lori", the man said, all of a sudden, gesturing to one of the pictures, his expression instantly turning into a sad one. "My wife… she died the same day Jude was born, out of some stupid, unprevented complication. Bad luck, plain bad luck… doctors couldn't save her on time."

Daryl just watched him, swallowing hard. He shook his head as to come for something to say.

"Huh, I'm.. tha' sucks, I'm sorry man."

"Yeah, me too. Me too", he said, glancing at the picture once more. "It's been hell at first, the first month.. I was just.. I lost it, I was just not here, you know? Carol.. she helped me a lot those days, I owe her the world. Now, well, it's never going to heal but I've got two kids to take care of, I'm just trying to do the things the way she'd have wanted me to do them."

"Well, ya seem ta be doin' em jus' fine", Daryl said, feeling a little touched by the story. He remembered himself with a two year old in his arms and he knew it was no damn pic-nic.

"So what about you? I mean, I've always wanted to ask… are you married? Divorced?"

Daryl chuckled. "Naw, I… huh, 's jus' Soph and me.. she.. she's been pretty much delivered ta me one day, she was no more than 1 month old, was born outta fuckin' one nigh' stand wit' some crazy bitch who jus' took off. Was a damn kid maself those days but I jus' had ta figure it out I guess."

Rick contemplated him for a few seconds, looking touched too, Daryl thought, which made him step back a little because he definitely needed no one's pity. The man cleared his throat then and gave him a light smile.

"Well you seem to have figured it out just fine too."

"Yea, maybe.. I do wha' I can.. 's never 'nough though." He was shifting from one feet to another now, hoping he'd stop being the conversation topic.

"Good for you you've found someone to be with, good for Sophia, too", Rick said, glancing at Michonne.

Daryl frowned in confusion for a second but then got his point.

"Oh, huh.. no, hell no.. Chonne, she's jus' a good frien' f mine, nothin' more, jus' good friends 's all", he repeated.

Rick laughed this time and shook his head, leaning against the oven and openly looking at the woman now.

"I'm sorry, I just assumed… I mean, she's something to look at, scares the hell out of me at the same time."

This got Daryl laughing too, and as he lifted his eyes to glance at her, he recognized there were a lot of things to look there, but he just couldn't pull those things together into a hot woman image. He felt it was like thinking of Merle like a hot guy or something, it just didn't happen.

"Yea, woman's tough.. she's got this katana, always thought she cuts men's head wit' it.. she's like a buddy ta me though.. ain' never seen 'er tha' way." And no one, for that matter, he thought, but he didn't say that aloud.

Rick chuckled and opened the oven again. It actually smelt good, Daryl thought, and felt his stomach growl.

"Well, this is almost ready. I'll just bring it out the oven as soon as Carol and Andrea get here."

Daryl was heading outside but stopped in his tracks and turned around. Carol? As in the blue eyed, cute freckled woman who looked after Sophia? He didn't say anything but just thought this was going to be an interesting lunch.


	9. Chapter 9

Well, another chapter. I know this is going slowly, which hopefully isn't the same as boring! lol.

It's 3 am here, so I really can't come up with something more to say, other than I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for R&R! I'm still kind of new in this site, and I think it's so great! :)

Hugs.

S.-

* * *

9.

The sun was hitting straight into Daryl's eyes who put his sun glasses as he drank another beer can and smoked a cigarrete, listening every now and then to the conversation Rick and Michonne were animatedly having. She was telling Rick about her new teaching position in Gainsville law's school and Daryl found himself having nothing to say but yet enjoying this relax time in Rick's patio. He liked the company so far, but wasn't sure about feeling comfortable when more people arrived.

Michonne was the successful, enterprising type of woman who worked all day and did all sorts of different kind of things at once, but still managed to do them brilliantly. She was one of those people who carried an agenda and whenever you'd ask them to meet later she'd just bring it out and check if she didn't have any appointments already. Truth was he didn't have much idea about what was exactly what she did, other than she was an attorney and she teached and did some kind of research about women rights or something like that, and he felt guilty, sometimes, when she excitedly told him about her achievements and he'd find himself with nothing more to say other than _cool. _It was all good, though, because she knew him like probably no one other than Merle did, and she didn't expect him to have a big opinion or speech about it. She knew he wasn't the type of person who'd try to find something interesting or flattering to say just to please the other, and she also knew, or he hoped she did, that knowing she was doing alright was good for him. She'd always told him, though, how she looked for his advice because he had a logical way of thinking, and Daryl had never completely understood what the hell that meant, but he had the feeling it was the other way around: it was her who had a complicated way of thinking. He also felt, at times, that was the way most women actually were, although his opinion was pretty much based on one individual, but he even saw it in Sophia sometimes. Rick, though, looked to him like the kind of guy who'd enjoy a conversation about books or movies or academic achievements, and apparently, he was having a hell of the time talking about all that.

Daryl leaned against the chair and stretched, throwing his head back and resting it over his hands for a second, when he heard knocks on the front door and saw Rick standing up. He repositioned on his chair then, and glanced at Michonne.

"Pretty nice, this new sheriff friend of yours", Michonne said, giving Daryl a nod.

"Yea, I see ya like 'im jus' fine", Daryl commented, taking a sip from his beer can.

But they didn't have time to say anything else because Andrea and Carol were walking towards them, followed by Rick.

"Well there just seems no way to get the kids away of that damn videogame, told them lunch's ready, they didn't even look at me", he said, looking at Daryl and then focusing on the women standing next to him "Have a seat, you already know Daryl, this here is Michonne".

"gonna drag their asses over 'ere", Daryl muttered, standing up. He walked past Carol in his way in, who looked up at him and smiled. For an unknown reason he stopped and stood awkwardly glancing down at her for a few seconds, but then he just gave her a nod and kept on walking, suddenly feeling ridiculous.

When he got back with the two pouting kids behind him, Rick was already serving the food and he took the seat next to Sophia and Carl. He mumbled a thanks to Rick when a plate filled with food appeared in front of him, and since he figured he couldn't eat with his sunglasses on, although he'd have liked to, he brought them to the top of his head. He watched Rick hand Carol her plate, and saw him put both of his hands on her shoulders, squeezing a little.

"How are things Carol?" he asked her, looking down at her with a smile.

The woman brought her hand to tap one of Rick's, and looked up at him, smiling as well.

"Oh, just fine Rick… after that little scary episode two weeks ago, I think I'm good now. Hot date tonight?"

He saw the man chuckle. "Hot date tonight indeed, gotta do rounds by 7."

Daryl frowned but then he saw Rick glance at him so he tried his best to put a straight face. This man was too friendly for his own good, he thought, before taking a big bite of food into his mouth. The chicken was actually really good and if there weren't so much people around he'd have told Rick. He focused his attention on Sophia then, who was apparently as hungry as him.

"Sup kiddo?" he asked her, chuckling at the sight of her eating like if she was Merle's size or something.

"I want a playstation dad", she said between bites. "It's not fair we left it with Merle, he's going to miss work, stay all day playing."

Daryl laughed, thinking that'd actually happened, once or twice. "Yea? and I wanna brand new crossbow. Ya get one fer me and I'll get one fer you".

Sophia eyed at him and rolled her eyes. "and where in hell do they sell them crossbows?" she asked him.

"Psst" he hissed. "watch yer mouth girl". He looked to his side, not wanting everyone to think he gave his child cursing lessons, and saw Carol, whose expression told him she was supressing a laugh.

"Rick's food beats yours dad, big time", Sophia suddenly stated aloud, which got everyone laughing. She raised her hands in defense then as Daryl playfully pulled her hair.

"So how come you became a chef Daryl? Always liked cooking or what?" Andrea asked from the other corner of the table, and now everyone's eyes were focused on him and he instantly looked down, swallowing the too big chunk of chicken he'd just put in his mouth.

"huh, yea.. no, I.. I used ta cook wha' I hunted back there in Senoia, kept me fed.. ma family too.. it never occured to me though.. 'til Sophia came along.. Then workin' in construction jus' wasn't enough so I figured I'd sign on cook school, since it was kinda short and all. Tha rest, I guess it sorta happened".

"Wow, that's cool", Andrea said, smiling slighty at him and it got him chuckling. Being a starving 9 year old boy running to the woods to get some meat because your parents were too high to feed you hadn't been so cool, but he figured he'd scare everyone if he commented it.

* * *

After they had eaten, Rick opened a fine wine bottle and the kids went straight back to the playstation. He offered Daryl a glass but he shook his head, going for another beer can instead. A cooker who wasn't that much into wine was just another fact having people surprised about him, but he was just the beer type. He noticed then Andrea, Michonne and Rick were enroled in some deep conversation, which left him and Carol silent in the other side of the table.

He cleared his throat then, slightly turning his head to look at her, and choked a little on his own words:

"So, um, ya up ta lookin' after Sophia tomorrow nigh'?"

"Sorry, what?" she spatted, shaking her head as if he had just interrupted her from who knows what she'd been thinking about.

He smiled awkwardly. "I was askin' ya if ya was up ta stay wit' Sophia tomorrow nigh'".

"Oh, yeah, sorry", she said with a smile. "Huh, yeah, definitely, I'm looking after Rick's kids tonight so I'm free tomorrow, yep."

She brushed a curl of her short brown with hints of grey hair off her face, and suddenly he felt like telling her she shouldn't have, that he liked the way it'd looked, partially covering one of her blue eyes.

"Ok, good then", he said, sucking on his teeth over his recent weird thought. "Bet yer watchin' tha' pirates movie again though", he added.

And she laughed, and it was nice when she laughed, too. It lightened up her face and made her eyes narrow in a cute way.

"Yeah, I don't mind though.. at least I hope I'm watching the sequel."

Michonne stood up and walked to him, carrying a pile of dishes with her. She stood between Daryl and Carol and looked down at him:

"6 pm man… My bus leaves at 7. Better get going, I just have to pick up my bag from your place", and she tapped his head before walking towards the kitchen, Andrea and Rick right behind her.

"Wow, I can't believe it's 6 pm already. I guess I won't have time to go home and come back… better ask Rick if I can stay here, he's leaving soon anyway", she said, but it sounded like she was speaking more to herself than to him.

He just remained silent, figuring he should get up, find Sophia and leave, but lightening a cigarrete instead as he watched the sky slowly turn pink.

"So, do you guys get to see each other often?" she asked suddenly, and he might have given her a confused look because she quickly explained herself:

"I mean, must be hard, being away… and Gainsville isn't that close", she added, her face turning as pink as the sky was right now.

"Huh, naw.. I mean, it's alrite.. we see each other, what? once every two months or somethin'.." he replied, and when she looked up at him, her lips a little parted, he understood what she was talking about.

"She ain't… " he threw a nervous laugh. "We ain't togetha.. she's jus' an' old friend", he explained, his thumb going to his mouth as she saw her wave her hand in the air and give him an apologetic look.

"Oh, I'm sorry.. I just thought.." but she was interrupted by Sophia, who was walking to them with Rick and Carl behind.

"dad, can I stay here tonight? Rick said he could take us both to school tomorrow, please? I need to beat Carl in that game.. I even got my school bag here, I took it with me in case we, umm, decided to do some homework", Sophia asked, leaning towards him and resting her head on his shoulder.

He thought for a second about her request and decided he had no reason not to let her. He just didn't like the idea of… he shook his head and looked up at Rick.

"Yea, it's alrite by me.. as long as it's alrite wit' ya", he said finally.

"absolutely", Rick said, "Don't worry, they are going to be fine, they are staying with Carol until I get back from work. I'll be taking them to school tomorrow morning."

"ya sure it ain't no problem?" he asked again, watching the kids run inside the house.

"No man, not at all. I'm glad she stays", the man said one more time.

"Is there.. um, ya know, a place fer her ta sleep?" he asked tentatively, feeling it was kind of a stupid question but something he needed to know anyway.

Rick chuckled. "Yes man, she won't be sleeping in Carl's room. She'll be staying in Judith's bedroom", he offered.

* * *

"So", Michonne said, glancing at Daryl out of the corner of her eye, "I saw you looking at her".

Daryl was driving a little too fast to the bus station, since Michonne's bus was leaving in 10 minutes. He was wondering how in hell he managed to be always in a rush, when he heard her say that.

"Wha' tha' fuck ya talkin' bout?" he asked, his eyes fixed on the road in front of him.

He heard her snort.

"Can we act like the adults we are, Daryl? You kept glancing at her, Carol. Nothing wrong with it, I'm just bringing the subject up."

"I wasn' fuckin' glancin' at 'er Chonne!" he spatted, "damn, how do ya manage to make up things in yer head?"

"So why don't you call her, ask her out? might be good for you" she insisted, fighting the smirk that was starting to form on her lips. It was always fun, picking on him.

"Why in hell should I call 'er huh? What'd be tha point?" he asked in a tired voice.

"You like her, you can call her… it's what people do", she said simply.

He brought his hand to his head, scratching his forehead as he chuckled.

"so now not only was I fuckin' glancin' at 'er but I also like 'er? Tha' wasn' no damn lonely people reunion Chonne.. ya was starin' at Rick like ya wanted ta fuck 'im righ' there, I ain' tellin' ya shit 'bout it."

"Yes, so? At least I do something about it", she stated, letting the smirk spread.

Daryl instantly turned his head and eyed her questioningly. "Wha' tha fuck ya did?" He sounded scared and it got Michonne chuckling.

"Nothing, Daryl, nothing big. I was helping him with the dishes, then he brought up some conversation, said he'd like to go to Gainsville with his kids some day. So I just gave him my number, told him to give me a call if he did."

Daryl bit his lip and shook his head. He didn't like the idea… Rick had lost his wife not so long ago and it just didn't feel right, but he knew what she was going to answer if he told her that, and, after all, it was true that he didn't have no clue about how relationships stuff worked.

"alrite, ya can do whateva tha hell ya wanna do, jus' don't get all fuckin' cupido on me, I wasn' lookin' at 'er, hell I barely know 'er.", he said as he stopped the car once they arrived.

"You should call her", she replied as if she hadn't heard what he'd just said. "was nice seeing you, nice seeing Sophia. I'll make sure I come back soon". She smiled at him and got out of the car, carrying her bag along.

"Yea, take care Chonne. Keep kickin' asses ove' there. Hope ta see ya soon", he told her. He wasn't good with good byes, those words being the most affectionate he could come up.

* * *

He was laying on the couch, smoking a cigarrete and drinking another beer, suddenly feeling exhausted over that weekend marathon. It had been worth it, though, spending time with Michonne and Sophia, but he knew he hadn't gotten any rest, which meant he was feeling tired even before the week started.

He had been thinking of what Michonne'd said to him earlier. For some reason, it'd actually been all he thought about, ever since he dropped her in the bus station. And he had to admit that despite all the nonsense she'd said, she'd been right about one thing: he'd spent good part of the damn day staring at her. He hadn't been aware of it, at first; she just seemed to sort of be there whenever he looked up, but after a while he'd found himself lifting his eyes to see her, following her with her gaze whenever she stood up or turned to talk to someone else. And he had no idea why that was, it hadn't occured to him he might like her. He just liked looking at her, he guessed, and he wasn't sure if those things were actually the same thing. He hissed, shoving his hand in his jean pocket to get his phone. He searched for her name in his contacts list and just pressed the call button.

"Uh, hi, I was jus' callin' ta check how Sophia's doin'?" he asked once she picked up.

"Hi Daryl! She's doing fine, they are doing their homework right now", she told him, and he could actually hear the kids' voices behind. She didn't seem surprised by the call, but then again he figured she had no reason to. She wasn't aware of the conversation or rather the monologue Michonne had performed.

"Good..", he said, remaining silent after that.

"Yes, at least they left the playstation for a while. Well, I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow then", she offered.

"Um, yeah", he said, "see ya then."

He sighed. He couldn't believe he'd let Michonne's little novel get into him.


	10. Chapter 10

Well I guess we're slowly moving forward. Hope you like this one, it's got a little bit of everything!

I want to warn you about abuse mention in this chapter. If you don't feel ok reading them then you'd probably want to move to the second half.

And thanks as always for R&R, I'm glad you like this story even though it's so AU. I enjoy writing it :)

Hugs!

S.-

* * *

10.

Carol came out of the shower realizing it was 5 pm and she had to get to Daryl's soon. She ran quickly through the dining room to her room and tried to dry her hair with the towel as she fumbled on the wardrobe to get whichever underwear she found first. Good thing about having short hair: it dried up pretty easily.

She put on the first long cotton sleveed t-shirt she found, because it was starting to get chilly in the night, and found herself jumping around as she fought to put her jeans on, which had been just washed and therefore were tighter than usual. When she finally buttoned them she felt like she couldn't breath, but she figured they'd loosen soon. She opened the bedtable drawer to find some hair slides in order to keep the rebel curls away from her face, hating the fact that her hair was neither curly nor straight, although having it short made it easier to control it too.

She used to have long, chestnut wavy hair which fell below her shoulders and which people always complimented. That was before Ed found another way of hurting her by pulling her hair, before some streaks turned grey out of stress…. before she decided to cut if off just so he couldn't pull it anymore. It'd costed her a few slaps and comments about her looking like a lesbian, which of course, was a bad word in Ed's language. Whatever she did with her hair or with any part of herself would have him complaining and offending her though; if she'd dyed it then he'd have told her she looked like a whore and if she left it long, he'd just have pulled it. When the grey started to replace the brown, he just told her she'd looked uglier. That had been the man she'd been locked with for a few years.

Carol picked up the little mirror from her bednight table, which was dusty due to how little she used it, and looked at her reflection, narrowing her eyes as she explored the image that was defiantly looking back at her. She moved it down then, noticing how her eyes had widened in warning, until it was at her stomach's height, and slowly grabbed the hem of her t-shirt and lifted it up. It had softened in these two years, but it was still there, the reddish pink contrasting with her pale skin, the flatness of her stomach interrupted by its rough texure. It was impossible it went unnoticed, because it crossed her belly from her left ribs to her right hip, and although she'd learnt to forget it existed, she hated it turned her body into something she had to hide and be ashamed of.

It wasn't the only one, but it was the biggest and the one that'd hurt the most. She'd gotten stitches on her forehead that day she tripped and fell from the stairs, her face hitting straight against one of the stairs edges. It was partially true: she fell, but she never told the nurses it'd happened because Ed pushed her, well aware of the fact she was going to roll down those stairs. She couldn't remember what it was that she did wrong that time, because, at first, both Ed and her liked to think there were specific reasons why he did what he did, things she did wrong, things she hadn't been good enough at, but after a while he didn't even bother to make up an excuse, and soon she realized it wasn't about her but rather about his sick mind.

The day Ed had left that awful scar on her stomach, digging his nails in his skin so deep it teared it apart, just because she'd refused to have sex with him because she'd felt sick, she couldn't afford going to the hospital, so she sneaked in the middle of the night and headed to Hershel's farm. The old man was a a vet but he knew more than the first aids basics and he was also the father of two restless girls who'd more than once fallen or bruised.

The man hadn't said anything when she'd made up something about a window breaking and falling over her when she'd been cleaning it. He had looked at her, though, and his gaze was always so transparent she could instantly tell he knew she was lying. Furthermore, he also knew what that wound was about. But he'd just nodded and took care of it, and in some twisted way, the fact both of them pretended that was what actually happened made her feel better. But Hershel was a man of a strong moral and she also suspected he just wouldn't stay silent about the whole thing. He was just smart enough to try to figure out how to say something without embarrasing her. When he was almost done, it occured to Carol she hadn't showed up there just for him to take care of her wound. She had showed up there unconsciously asking for help, asking for someone to _say _something to her, to notice how fucked up it was what this person was doing to her and how even more fucked up it was that she thought she had no way out of it. And he did:

_"Carol?"_ he'd call her out, once the stitches were done and when she slowly stood up and motioned to leave.

_"It's going to leave a scar, that wound, but it's going to heal. Physical wounds… they just heal, now this…"_ he'd pointed to his chest, _"these wounds, they are more difficult to heal. Sometimes they never do. Sometimes we can't do anything to avoid it, but this time you can. And I can help you to. We will help you to",_ he'd told her softly. And that was all it took for her to break in tears in front of him.

She shook her head, pushings those thoughts aside for the moment or encouraged by those thoughts… she wasn't sure, and walked to the closet, pulling the plain old black t-shirt off her head, her eyes wandering inside in search of a nicer piece of clothing. It was something silly, pointless, even, thinking she was going to see Daryl so why not picking something nicer to wear, but harmless either way, and it also meant she actually knew she could make herself look better, even when that scars may always be there, she suddenly didn't feel like hiding herself under some baggy t-shirt. She suddenly felt she just didn't have to hide.

* * *

"So ya not makin' a scene 'bout stayin' wit' Carol again tonigh'?" he asked Sophia as he drove them back home after picking her up from school.

"Nope. I think she's ok, she's kinda cool actually. I like her better than Lidia who just pretended she looked after me and then suddenly dissapeared. Was thinking I could make a scene about you not buying me a playstation though", the girl said smirking at first and then her mouth changed into a pout.

Daryl couldn't help but chuckling at the mention of Lidia, a kind of gothic chick who used to look after Sophia in the two hours in between Daryl went to work and Merle came back from work. Sophia told him one day she'd all of a sudden be gone and show up a few minutes later, and it didn't took long for him to find out she was actually getting it going with Merle in her little time away. He had been furious back then, but it became some sort of funny memory by now.

"I'll buy maself a playstation an' let ya play every now an' then, what ya say?" he teased her, feeling good about the fact that she seemed to like Carol and that she was in an overall better mood.

* * *

"So", Carol said to Sophia, leaving the half slice of pizza aside since she'd already had 3 from the pizza Daryl gave her money to buy. "lots of friends in school already?"

"Umm, no. Not a lot really, it's only been a week. Carl is weird though because he's friendly to me whenever we aren't in school and then he just ignores me when we're there. Do you think he's ashamed of me or something?" the girl asked with true concern.

Carol chuckled, trying to go back to herself and to her life at the age of 12.

"Oh no, definitely not. I think maybe he's embarrassed because he's your friend and you're a girl and boys his age are just weird like that", she offered, smiling softly at her.

"I think boys any age act weird around girls", the girl said with her mouth full of pizza.

"Why do you think so? Some of them are nice around us girls too", Carol commented, curious to know a 12 year old girl opinion on that matter.

Sophia shrugged. "I don't know, it's what I see. It's how my dad acts, and he's old. So I figure younger boys are even weirder. My uncle, Merle, he has a lot of women, but I think he isn't that good to them so he's weird too."

Carol's brows lifted a little and she wondered if Daryl knew her daughter had that opinion about her uncle, whatever this Merle guy was like. And now she was also feeling extremely eager to just go ahead and ask her why she thought her dad was weird around women, but she felt it was just wrong, using the girl as some sort of information source, so she held it back.

"Well, your dad has a friend, and she's a woman. Maybe he isn't as weird as you think", she said instead, thinking it was the right way of getting some information without pushing it too much.

"Yes, but Michonne is like a sister to him, she doesn't count. I'm just saying I never saw him date any girls his age, and I think he's handsome and he could have a lot of them too, like uncle Merle does. And he isn't that handsome, not like my dad", the girl explained in what Carol thought was the cutest way.

"Do you think he's handsome?" Sophia suddenly asked.

Carol's mouth opened to speak, but she didn't know what to say, and she was pretty sure she blushed, too. She had found out with Carl sometime ago, interacting with kids their age was particularly difficult because they were a complex mixture of a child and a grown up, and they understood and figured a lot more things adults actually gave them credit for, but still they were so naive in many aspects you just couldn't talk to them as you would to a 16 year old kid. It was a combination of not treating them like little kids nor like adults either.

"I, huh… I think he is, yes", she said finally.

"Yeah, me too", the girl said, apparently oblivious to the fact she'd made her nervous. "but I'm his daughter so I just don't know. I think he looks younger than my schoolmates' daddies though, but they are always with their mamas and he's just kind of lonely I think", she added.

Carol smiled at the realization of how she cared and looked after her dad just as much as he did, only in a complete different way. She put her hand on Sophia's shoulder and squeezed it a little.

"I'm sure you don't have to worry about that, that's for him to handle", she told her, and the girl looked back at her and smiled slightly.

"Alright, let's watch pirates then!".

* * *

When Daryl got back, he found out Sophia was sleeping in her room already, Carol laying on the couch, some huge book on her chest.

He chuckled when he noticed how fast she just stood up and sat straight when he opened the door, as if there was something wrong with her laying there. She smiled at him and brought her hands to her hair, apparently trying to comb it a little. And he felt it was just nice to come home and find someone else up and waiting for him, although that wasn't exactly the case but it just felt like it for a second, and he'd liked it for some reason.

"hey, nothin' wrong wit' ya laying there", he told her, walking towards her but then stopping because there wasn't any place to sit other than the couch next to her.

"Hey, huh, no, I know. I was just, you took me by surprise I guess", she said, standing up and grabbing the pizza box and a few plates. "I haven't even cleaned this", she mumbled in her way to the kitchen.

He slightly laughed this time and blocked her way, taking the pizza box and the plates in one hand.

"ya ain't s'possed ta either", he told her as he took a bite out of the pizza. "Sophia sleepin'?"

"Huh, yeah", she said, noticing she was still holding the other side of the pizza box and dropping her hand, which lingered in the air for a few seconds before she placed it on her hip. "she said goodnight and went to her room after we finished watching the movie."

He didn't know if it was due to the fact she was acting like the uneasy, awkward one this time or because it was just late and he was too tired to tense up, but he felt himself act more relaxed. He looked at her and raised a brow:

"so ya was almos' sleepin' til I showed up. Kinda feel bad now."

Carol laughed and looked at her feet and then back at him.

"You can redeem yourself by giving me a ride home", she told him, biting her lip slightly as if she'd just suggested the boldest of things.

He scratched his back and lifted his eyes up to look at her, although he hoped she hadn't noticed how it took some time for them to reach her face, distracted for a while on the sight of her tight blue jeans and her purple rather low-cut t-shirt which suggested a pretty nice body behind those clothes.

He shook his head, feeling a little bad for thinking about how her body'd look under those clothes. He guessed he'd just been… well, lacking of that kind of things lately to put it nicely.

"Alrite, will have ta do tha' then", he told her, getting the feeling he was flirting with her, or she was flirting with him, or maybe it was just two people saying what it could possibly be said this late at night and he was just misinterpretating everything because he was an idiot like that, and because he'd found out her body was just as nice as her face.

"C'mon then, let's go find ma redemption", he said, gesturing with his head for them to leave.


	11. Chapter 11

This chapter is rather short but it's all Daryl and Carol. Hope you like it :)

Thanks for R&R! first sunday without TWD, it sucks.

S.-

* * *

Daryl got inside the truck and started it, glancing a few times to his right in her direction, feeling that, now that his little bravery moment was gone, it had left him feeling nervous. Nervous about giving her a ride, about having to start some sort of conversation while they drove to her place, about having checked out her ass when she'd walked to the car. He didn't know if he should blame it to his lack of interaction with women lately, or if he just simply found this woman particularly attractive, but he felt he just liked to have her around, even though it got him all creepy like this.

He had long ago shut off his basic instincts but the fuckers would now and then arise, in the most unexpected situations like him taking Sophia's babysitter home. But beyond having found her figure nice, he felt there was something different about Carol. He had never been around many women and he didn't consider himself an expert in female behavior by any means, but from what he saw, they were usually loud and nosy and liked to be the focus of attention. At least that was how the women he'd met on the bars Merle frequented were, it was even how Andrea, the waitress, seemed to be at times. And even though he'd gotten drunk enough to sleep with some of them those times his body had just pleaded he gave it a little fun time, that was all the interaction he'd found he wanted to have with them. Michonne… well, she wasn't like that, but she could be annoying in other differents ways, like the other day when she tried to convince him he called Carol and asked her out. He chuckled at the memory, as if she didn't know him enough to know never in his life had he called a woman and asked her out. It just wasn't his style and it wasn't, either, something he'd ever been interested in doing. He didn't know why, but it just didn't happen. It was just the way he was, period.

Carol seemed to be different though, from the little he knew her. She was quiet and soft and didn't look like she was trying to get everyone's attention, but she rather kept to herself. Whenever she did speak she usually said something nice and right and then she'd remain silent and it'd get Daryl wondering what was it that she thought about, what was her life like, it'd get him just curious about her in a way he wasn't used to.

And, from what he could see, he figured the same didn't go for her since she was absently looking through the window and not paying the slightest of attentions to his presence. He figured, for her, it was just about going home after a long day, whether it was Rick or him or whoever driving her. He remembered Rick then, his hands going to Carol's shoulders as he smiled to her and joked about something, his friendly, outgoing manners pretty evident, and suddenly he wished he was less awkward and could act a little more like him. Hell, Michonne was like a sister to him and all the physical contact he beared to share with her was an occasional tap on her shoulder whenever they saw each other after a long time.

He cleared his throat then, suddenly strangely annoyed by the silence, and came with the first thing that crossed his mind:

"So huh, who ya live wit'?" he asked her, his voice coming a little louder than he'd have wanted to, and he saw her flinch a little at the sudden sound of his voice, before she turned to look at him. He frowned. He'd noticed it earlier, how she'd just shiver and jump a little whenever someone unexpectedly talked to her or when he'd opened the front door earlier, as if she was prone to getting scared easily.

"I'm sorry", she said, chuckling slightly, "guess I was starting to fall asleep again in your car… I live with Andrea, we share a little house".

"Didn' mean ta scare ya, go ahead and sleep if ya want… ya'd have to wake up in 5 minutes though", he murmured as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He saw her smile a little.

"Oh, no, you don't.. you didn't scare me", she said softly, bringing her hand to his knee and squeezing it softly. He was the one flinching this time, and he clenched his teeth and swallowed hard, feeling his leg tingle even after she moved her hand away.

He didn't say anything else nor looked at her, hating how that little touch had gotten his mind spinning. He turned to the left and reached the street where she lived in, noticing a car parked right there in front of her house.

"looks like ya got company", he told her as he stopped the truck behind.

She turned to look at him, her eyes wide, and she wasn't making any attemps to get down of the car. He bit his bottom lip, confused.

"Somethin' wrong?" he asked her, lifting his eyebrows as he stared at the scared expression on her face.

"I just… that isn't Andrea's car. I don't know who's is it", she said, and he noticed her voice trembling a little and the corner of her mouth turn down in concern.

"huh, could be anyone's car. There a problem?" he asked her, figuring, for some reason, there was apparently a problem with an unknown car parked on her house.

"Could you, you know, wait here until I get inside the house?" she asked him. "I'm sorry, I.. you must be thinking I'm a freak or something", she added, turning to open the car's door.

He caught her by the wrist without thinking before she got down. She stopped, but didn't turn to look at him.

"Hell, ain't thinkin' anythin'… why ya so scared 'bout tha' car though?" he asked her in the softest of voices he found.

She shifted a little and sat straight on the car seat, resting her body against the back. He slowly let go of the grip on her wrist.

"I'm sorry, I just.. I swear I'm not one of those paranoid persons… thing is, there used to be this guy who stalked me, I haven't seen him for a while but it just scares me a bit, that tinted glass car. Makes me wonder who's in there.", she said slowly, pursing her lips after she spoke.

"Why on hell would someone stalk ya?" he asked her, reaching for her eyes with his own and suddenly feeling he was asking too many damn questions.

She sighed, throwing her head back against the seat.

"It's a long story, I swear… you don't want to know", she said with resignation.

"Alrite, lemme jus' find out who tha hell's in tha' car then", he told her, glancing at her one more time before getting out of the truck.

He walked towards the car, his fists clenched, finding the whole situation and the fact he possibly had to fight off whoever psycho stalked her for whichever reason, very strange. He knocked on the driver's window with one hand, his other arm tensed and ready to act if he had to. The window partially opened then and he saw a young guy with some girl next to him, both of them staring at him with fear.

"Who the hell are ya?" Daryl angrily spatted.

"We're just… having a drink man", the boy nervously said, raising his hands up.

"well ya better find anotha damn place ta do whateva tha hell ya was doin' and get tha fuck outta my house", he said sharply.

The boy just nodded frantically and Daryl stood there watching the boy closethe window and rapidly take off, before walking back to the truck.

"Jus' some folks foolin' around in tha car", he told her when he got in. "Nothin' ta worry 'bout".

Carol sighed again, and gave him an apologetic look.

"Oh, god, I'm so sorry. Maybe I am a little paranoid", she muttered, looking down and a little embarrassed.

"Ya probably got yer reasons, nothin' ta be sorry 'bout. Somethin' happens, ya call me right away alrite?" once more he had forgotten about his own awkwardness just by watching her all scared and worried.

She slowly lifted her eyes up until they fixed on his, her mouth turning into a small smile.

"Thank you Daryl. And thank you for what you did", she said, and Daryl froze and felt his heart beat a million times a minute as he watched her lean in and brush her lips over his cheek.

He just stood there, frozen, uncapable of saying anything as she gave him one last look and got out of the truck. He saw her get inside the house, and he brought his fingers to the spot she'd kissed, his other hand going to his forehead before he started the car and drove back home.

_Holy fuck, _he thought before falling asleep, his hand still on his cheek.


	12. Chapter 12

Hi people! hope you're having a nice weekend and year's end. Things in my country had been complicated, particularly in my city, so I hadn't had time or energy to write... but everything seems to be calmer now.

This is sort of a filer chapter, and I know I'm taking things slow, but don't worry, they'll speed up a little soon enough. And I do hope you like this one anyway.

Thank you for R&R, as always :)

Hugs.

S.-

* * *

"Daddy?" Sophia asked while she walked through Daryl's room's door, watching him laying on his bed, hands under his head, looking at the ceiling.

"Sup baby?" he asked her, leaning on his elbows to look at her, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, pretty much the only object decorating his room. She looked at the clothes spreaded all over the floor, and then back at him, a smirk on her face.

"you could use a painting on the wall, you know? a picture, a wardrobe, something. This place is depressing", she told him, holding back a laugh.

Daryl raised a brow to her, but couldn't help to smirk as well.

"ya came 'ere ta criticize ma room?" he asked her, throwing a pillow in her direction.

"Was just saying!", she said, raising her hands over her head to cover herself from the pillow impact. "if you don't do something about it I'm gonna have to go ahead and draw over the walls myself, just like in your old one."

Daryl chuckled at the memory of his old room, every damn spot on the wall covered with Sophia's 4 year old drawings. And as if it hadn't been enough, she'd also made sure to draw all over Merle's room too. They hadn't cared, not one bit, but Merle usually complained about women giving him odd looks whenever he brought them to his bedroom.

"Tha' was definitely fine art. C'mon, get ova 'ere, few minutes left 'fore goin' to tha restaurant", he told her, motioning with his head for her to crawl on his bed. He realized, then, with everything going on and the fact that he only had one free day now, it'd been a long time they hadn't been together, just the two of them, hanging around. He'd missed that.

Sophia jumped on the bed and layed perpendicularly to him, her head resting on his stomach. He brought his hand to her hair and slowly stroked it. Sophia was probably the only person in the world whom with physical contact was something natural for him.

"You're tired dad. Maybe you need a vacation" Sophia told him, balancing her feet which weren't touching the floor.

"I ain't tired kiddo. I'm good. And it ain't yer job ta worry 'bout me, goes tha other way 'round." He said softly.

"Aren't you tired of just being the two of us?" she asked, and he noticed there was concern in her voice. Ever since she'd started to grow up, becoming more aware of things and all, she'd also started to worry about him. More than once she'd asked him why didn't he find himself a girlfriend and even made unuseful attempts to introduce him to her friends moms, whether they were single, divorced or not. He'd found it funny and cute, and sometimes he wondered if it was really about him finding himself a woman or her trying to reach the typical family she saw her friends had. He wished sometimes she had a brother, a sister, someone closer to her age to hang around with, he even wished she had a female figure to look upon, to ask for advice over the things he knew he struggled with, but it was just the way it was and all he could do was making sure she had the happiest childhood and life he could give her, all things considered.

He leaned on his elbows again, looking down at her with a frown:

"I'm never gonna be tired of ya kiddo. Dontcha ever think tha'", he told her and saw her smile slightly.

"How come? Sometimes I do get tired of ya", she said teasingly, which caused another pillow to fly over her head.

"that's alrite. I get tired of maself too… It jus' don't work tha' way wit' yer own children… didn' believe in tha' shit til' it happened ta me. Guess yer gonna find out yerself if I ever let someone get close to ya".

"Eww, I think the ways babies are made is just gross", she said with a disgusted face, which got Daryl laughing and thinking gross wasn't the face word that came to his mind, but he figured it was good she had that concept for now.

"Yeah, kinda. Hope ya jus' stick wit' that line of thinkin' fer a while", he said between chuckles.

Merle had usually been the one to talk to her about those topics Daryl found so hard to handle when it came to his child. Sometimes she came back from school with the oddest questions about sex and relationships, probably things she heard her classmates talking about, and he knew last year they started having sexual education classes or some shit like that as well. Luckily Merle was particularly good with that, he'd made those talks funny and natural without giving her too much information, nor treating her like a little child either. But now Merle would be seeing them less frequently and that was going to be another thing he'd have to learn how to deal with it himself.

"You know, dad, Carol told me yesterday she thought you were handsome", Sophia commented, sitting on the bed and glancing at him.

He knew his heart started to beat faster just by the mention of Carol's name. For some reason he'd actually been thinking about her all the damn day and even bringing his hand to the spot on his cheek she'd kissed last night like some retarted freak.

"Jesus, Soph, wha' did ya say ta 'er? This ain' bout ya tryin' to fix me up wit' tha first woman we run into". He shook his head, hoping that at least Sophia had been subtle enough and hadn't scared the hell out of the woman.

He saw her raise her hands in defense, hiding a smile that was threatening to form on her lips.

"I didn't tell her anything! I just told her I thought you were handsome but I was your daughter so maybe I couldn't think differently… and she told me she agreed, that's all."

"C'mon, time ta go", he said after some time of wondering whether Carol'd meant it or if she'd just said it because she hadn't had any other choice.

"You mad at me?" Sophia asked him with her eyes wide.

"Ain't mad at ya. Jus' next time don't ya ask those questions, ya can make people feel uncomfortable", he said simply, standing up and ready to leave the room and the subject as well.

"You think she's pretty?" Sophia asked, following him behind.

He rolled his eyes. She wasn't going to stop. He looked to the ceiling begging for some more patience, even more than he'd already had with Sophia. Had it been Merle he'd be yelling non-stop.

"Hell I dunno", he muttered, grabbing the truck keys before opening the front door.

"How can you not know? I think she is. I think Michonne is, but she's a different pretty. We all know if other person's pretty or if they ain't", she insisted, hints of his southern drawling in her voice.

"Well I jus' happen not ta", he told her. "We're late Soph, jus' drop it", he added as they both got into the truck.

* * *

Carol and Maggie were waiting for Andrea to get ready to go to work, so they all left together because Maggie had invited her to dinner at the farm. Glenn was going to be there, meeting Hershel and the rest of her family for the first time, and Maggie was so nervous she'd asked Carol to go over too.

"I can't believe you had sex on a drugstore", Carol said between laughes.

"There was no one around!" Maggie told her laughing as well. "It was fun… you should go for it, Carol, find yourself someone, even if it's just for fun. It's been a while already, it'd do you good", the young woman told her, her face turning serious now.

"Maybe…" Carol said, thoughtfully. "I just, I don't… I don't feel I want to. I don't even know how I'd react, I mean, after all that happened. I don't want to turn into one of those women who just think all men are the same, but at the same time I can't help it, I'm still scared", she bursted out, thinking it'd been a while she wanted to tell that to someone.

"I understand honey… but he's gone. He won't be back, even if he is. He won't hurt you anymore. You won't let him and we're all here, we'll all protect you if we have to and we'll all make sure you move on", she told her softly.

Carol smiled. She objectively knew it was true, but then again deep inside she didn't feel it was, and that was difficult to explain.

"I'm just still so paranoid. You know, last night… Daryl was giving me a ride home. We get here, there was a car parked on the street, and I just freaked out. It was embarrasing to explain him, I mean, I hate myself for feeling this way so it's even worse when I have to tell the others. But I did, kind of, and I didn't even ask him to but he got off the car, checked who was inside, told them to get out of here. It was nice of him, but he probably thinks I'm a freak. Probably thinks I'm weak and frightened over nothing."

Andrea leaned on her room's door, half dressed.

"You left him, Carol. You're not weak... hell it takes a lot of strenght to leave someone who threatens to kill you and all. That was nice of him though, he doesn't look like the kind of guy I'd like to have trouble with", she said before getting inside the room again.

"I know, and I don't think I'm weak anymore. I've proven myself I'm not, that's the only good thing about it all. Doesn't mean I'm ready to jump into another relationship yet, I mean, I don't even know if that's what I want anymore."

"That was so nice of him! Stepping up to protect you. Looks like there's a lot more under his good looks", Maggie said with a hint of a smirk on her face.

"Don't", Carol said sharply, but couldn't help but smile a little.

"What?" Maggie asked her, confused.

"Don't start building unexistent theories about why he did what he did. Anyone would have… Rick did it plenty of times as a matter of fact. Means nothing", she explained.

And she knew she was also trying to say those words to herself again. Because she'd been thinking all day about him and how he'd tried to protect her yesterday, how there hadn't been no judgement in his eyes, just pure concern. How he'd turned to be not only insanely good looking but also nice, and even a little flirty when he'd came back from work, even shy and nervous when she'd leaned in and kissed his cheek. But those kind of things didn't happen to her so she wouldn't take his nice gestures for anything else. She'd said it to herself over and over but again, but something inside her was still not listening.


	13. Chapter 13

slow and steady, but we're moving forward!

thank you for R&R even though things are slow! There might be some action in the next chapter though :)

hugs! and happy holidays for those who have them! I don't :(  
S.-

* * *

The damn restaurant was crowded even though it was Wednesday. The kitchen was disorganized and he felt just annoyed at the world, a state of mind that was pretty common when it came to him.

At least it was almost time to leave and the only good thing he could think about was he was going to be seeing Carol soon enough and drive her back home. It was some sort of unspoken ritual they'd developed and pretty much the only time they'd spent together in the two weeks that'd gone by, but for some reason sometimes he found himself feeling it wasn't enough. They'd gotten more comfortable around each other, or he had, because really she'd always acted the same way with him, and somehow, that 10 minutes ride became all he thought about at times. He wasn't one to fool himself: he knew by now he was attracted to the woman. Sometimes though he just wouldn't admit it and attribute it to boredom or stress or lack of female company only to avoid thinking what the hell to do with it. He didn't know what exactly got him so drawn to her and at the same time he could mention countless things he liked about her. Problem was, just the act of running through those things in his mind was way too unlike him. Plus, he didn't actually think she was also attracted to him and if she was, she had a very subtle way of showing it, which hooked him even more. He sensed she flirted with him, but he couldn't come up with specific things why he got that impression. It was just in the air somehow or maybe he was so unused to people being friendly to him he just got the wrong idea. Maybe if he released all this shit with someone else… Rick had suggested him a few days ago they should hit a bar on Friday, leave the kids with Carol and go have a few drinks. He'd agreed and decided he'd use it to get laid with the first woman that crossed his way. He wasn't thrilled about the idea, but maybe that way he'd stop thinking about Carol all the damn time.

"What a night. Don't want to imagine what the kitchen's been like… I forgot to tell you, I'm going with you to your place", Andrea had apparently appeared out of nowhere or maybe he'd just been too lost in his thoughts but it was her words which got him jumping.

"What tha hell?" he barked, stepping back a little. He'd seen her look at him longer than necessary sometimes, but was she really suggesting this? There was no way in hell he was sleeping with her. First of all, he didn't think he could bare having a one night stand with someone he'd have to see every day. Second, he simply wasn't interested. Not that he had nothing against her, but still. Third, she was Carol's friend and that counted for some reason.

"Slow down, cowbow. I'm not throwing myself at you. We can arrange that if you want but I just told Carol I'd pick her up, take her home."

"We ain' arrangin' shit. Why ya pickin' her up though? I usually drive 'er home", he replied, starting to feel even more mad. He didn't dislike Andrea but all he could think now was the stupid bitch was taking away from him the only good thing about his whole day.

"I know, but I just offered her and she accepted. She told me you always drove her, said she didn't want to be a burden", Andrea said absently as she picked up her purse.

Daryl narrowed his eyes, feeling a bit hurt. Did she really think he hated driving her home? Naw, she was probably getting tired of his company, and that he could understand. He got tired of himself many times.

"I don' mind drivin' er... hell it's a fuckin' 10 minute ride", he insisted as he headed outside the kitchen, and he was aware he was insisting, but he couldn't help it.

Andrea leaned against the kitchen door, blocking his way out and raised a brow at him.

"Oh? Sounds more like _you like _driving her home. I'm sorry, I didn't know", she said, a smirk plastered on her face.

Daryl let a dramatic breath out and shook his head. "Jesus christ, all I'm sayin' s it ain' make no sense…", he started to speak as he tried to walk past her and out of the kitchen, but she held his wrist:

"It's alright Daryl. You drive her home. No big deal. Just make sure you tell her you don't mind, or you may want to tell her you actually like it", she stepped out of his way, a giggle escaping from her lips.

"Whatcha find so funny huh? Jus' doin' yerself and 'er a fuckin' favour, 's all", he mumbled on his way out.

"I don't find it funny! Interesting would be a more appropiate word!" she yelled from behind, between more giggles.

Daryl shut the door and stormed out, giving a disgusted glare to Glenn, just because he happened to be there. At least he'd be taking her home after all.

* * *

When he got in the truck, his mood instantly changed. It was what he liked the most, driving back home those days he knew he'd find her there, laying on the couch reading or sitting on the kitchen's table drawing stuff he'd never really paid much attention to. Maybe he should have. Maybe he should ask her more questions about what the hell she liked drawing or what she wanted to do when she graduated. Or what her favourite colour was. He figured for someone who studied art that had to be an important question. Hell, he had no idea, but he recalled Merle saying women liked it when men showed interest in them, even if they pretended to be when truly they didn't give a fuck. Thing was, he was indeed interested in knowing stuff about her… he just didn't know how to show it. He was Merle's exact oppossite in those matters.

She was awake when he'd gotten home. He saw her drop the book she was holding to her chest and lift her eyes at him. He thought she looked pretty, with her short hair a little messy and running in different directions. And at least she didn't feel bad about openly laying on the couch anymore.

"Hey", she said with a smile.

"Hey…", he answered back. "Watcha readin'?" he supossed that's how it had to be done, this asking questions thing.

"Oh, just a book I found here. Didn't know you liked reading… it's something about constelations", she said, changing her position so that she was sitting now.

Daryl walked towards her and reached the book, examining it for a few seconds.

"Yea, naw… ain't a reader maself. Pro'bly Merle's, he's tha reader as weird as tha' might be. I jus' thought it was good fer Sophia, havin' some books 'round. I know a lot of shit 'bout constelations though", he told her.

"Is he coming this week?" she asked him. Merle hadn't been able to show up last weekend but he'd promised he'd be there on Saturday, and Daryl had told her once about his brother and how Sophia missed him and all.

"Yea, says he's comin' this Saturday. Tha's good and bad news. Guy's a fuckin' tornado. Sophia sleepin'?"

She laughed quietly and nodded. "Yes, she was pretty tired today. She was excited about Merle coming though."

He stayed in silence for a few seconds and then they both attemped to speak at the same time.

"Go ahead", she said with a chuckle, gesturing with her hand for him to speak.

He threw a nervous laugh.

"was jus' gonna tell ya.. Andrea said she was suppossed ta pick ya up? But I told 'er not ta, I mean.. it ain't big deal fer me ta do it", he said finally, scratching his back.

"Oh. I was going to ask the same thing", she told him as she stood up. "I know it isn't a big deal for you, I just don't want you having to do it everytime I come here". She walked to him and squeezed his shoulder. "Thank you though", she added with a little smile, her eyes staring straight into his.

"Ain't nothin, really. Ta be honest I like ta drive ya home", he bursted out, dropping his gaze to the floor inmediately. He couldn't believe he'd said those words, and to make it worse, he was sure his reaction afterwards was way more telling than what he'd said anyway.

When he lifted his eyes, though, she was smiling a full smile to him. "That's good to hear, cause I do too", she said softly, and he turned around quickly before it got any weirder.

"Let's get goin'", he mumbled, already standing by the door.


	14. Chapter 14

things are way too busy over here! but I managed to get this out.. hope you like it!

Hugs and Merry Christmas!

S.-

* * *

Daryl took a long sip from his glass, drinking all the Southern Comfort in it, and quickly grabbed the bottle to fill it again. He had to admit he was enjoying his little night out with Rick, and as he looked around, he noticed the bar was much better than the shit holes he used to go to with Merle in his younger years. The atmosphere though was pretty much the same: the smoke was making his eyes itch a bit and the place smelled like strong alcohol. The music was so loud he could barely hear Rick whenever he spoke. The women were wearing the minimum pieces of clothing he thought was possible and the men were chasing them with predatory eyes. Yes, pretty much the same shit. Rick and him had arrived about an hour ago and they'd both started to drink right away. He had ordered a Southern Comfort bottle while Rick had gone for the beer, and by the time now he'd lost count of how many cans the cop had drank.

They'd fall into some conversation every now and then, but most of the time they'd be quiet. It reminded Daryl of the times he went out with Merle, both of them sitting in silence and just keeping each other company as they let alcohol fill their blood. Merle though would soon get drunk enough and get into a fight or go find himself some woman to leave with, and Daryl had a hard time imagining the police officer ending that way. That was good though, it was good for a change. Rick wasn't the type to undress women with his gaze either, even though Daryl saw a few stare in his direction, the man just seemed oblivious to that fact, and it made Daryl feel more comfortable, knowing he wouldn't be insisting, like Merle did, he went and get himself some.

The alcohol was starting to slowly get in his system and he noticed he'd been tapping his feet on the floor at the ryhtm of some sort of punk music. He chuckled and leaned further into his chair. He suddenly pictured a short haired woman on her back, leaning against the bar, probably ordering a drink. She was wearing a short black skirt and some blue tank top. He suddenly fantazied the woman turned around and it'd be Carol, and she'd start seductively walking in his direction. Jesus christ. This was the bad part of getting drunk, he thought, as he felt himself grow hard just from imagining that little scene in his head. He knew there was no possible way he found her there becuse he'd taken Sophia himself to Rick's house, where the kids would be staying with Carol until they got back. Carol had already been there. She'd told him he looked nice and that he enjoyed his night out because he deserved it, and he'd blushed, as usual, not knowing what to say. He kind of wished she'd be here now.

His thoughts were interrupted by a harsh voice:

"Fuck my life. I decide to go out and I run into fucking Rick Grimmes, you have to be kidding me".

He lifted his eyes and saw a fat man, with round eyes and just a disgusting vibe about him. He frowned and looked at Rick questioningly. He saw him roll his eyes and turn his body to the man.

"Can't say I'm glad to see you either, Ed. Just remember I'm still a cop even though I'm not in my duty time right now. Don't mean I won't handcuff your ass if you get into trouble. Mind your own bussiness and we'll be good.", he said sharply.

The man, Ed, threw a bitter laugh.

"Mind your own bussiness, do you hear him guys?" he turned his head to look at a bunch of 4 old guys behind him before smashing his hands on their table. "you son of a bitch, I spent 3 months locked because of you not minding your own fucking bussiness", the man spatted right on Rick's face.

Daryl's hands curled into fists at his sides. He didn't know who the hell this man was but he didn't have to know nothing more about him to figure he was a worthless asshole, and he was ready to punch him in the face if he didn't shut up soon. Rick though, didn't even blink.

"I am a cop, Ed. That happens to be my job, minding other people's bussiness", he replied with a smirk. "Plus, she's my friend. I'd have done it anyway. You deserved to be locked for a longer time. I'm sure you'll manage to make it happen".

"Fuck you. You're fucking her ugly ass, that's why. Go ahead and have it, I couldn't care less. You sad, cuckold widower. Go ahead and fuck Carol's disguting body all night long!" the man yelled, his friends bursting out laughing behind. Rick bit his lip and attemped to stand up, but he stayed on his chair, his jaw clenched. It took Daryl a few seconds to process the man words and suddenly he was standing up himself and grabbing the man by the neck of his shirt:

"Watch yer mouth ya fuckin' asshole. I'm gonna beat the hell outta ya if ya don't get tha fuck outta 'ere now", he told him, spitting the words over his face.

"Who the hell are you huh?" Ed asked angrily although in a much lower voice.

"Someone who's gonna fuckin' kill ya if ya ever talk 'bout 'er or anyone like tha'", Daryl barked, pushing him harshly when he let him go.

"This isn't finished, Rick Grimmes! This isn't finished!", they heard the man yell from the distance as he walked away, a bunch of people looking from Ed to their table just to forget it a few minutes later.

Daryl took a sip of the liquor straight from the bottle and stared at Rick, panting a little as he sat back on the chair.

"Wha' tha fuck was all tha'?" he asked him, narrowing his eyes.

"That was fucking Ed Peletier man. Takes everything for me not to beat him to death, I swear. He knows I can't, that's why he wants me to. He provokes me. Hell, he made Shane Walsh, my partner, lose it once. He punched him until he left him unconscious, almost loses his job for that", Rick said, his breathing still raised as well.

"Why on hell did he mention Carol?" Daryl asked him although he already had his suspicions.

Rick raised his hand to order another beer before speaking.

"Long story. He used to be Carol's fiancée. Yeah, I know", he said chuckling at the face Daryl made. "He'd always been trouble, people, us, we never liked him. Lori… she always said to me she thought he hit her, but we could never be sure, until she started to show up with bruises, all kind of bruises. Carol… She wouldn't say a word though, hell, she even defended him, protected him or some shit. Who knows what went on her head, but it was pretty weird. Even weirder coming from her".

He was interrupted by the waitress coming with the beer. He nodded in gratitude and Daryl gestured for her to bring him another Southern Comfort bottle.

"Make it 2 more beers as well please", Rick told her before she left. "Might as well get even drunker, that man knows how to get in my nerves", he told Daryl.

"So he beated her?" Daryl asked incredulously. He had a hard time imagining how could someone put their hands on such a sweet woman like her, or on any woman for that matter, but he knew better, having his papa been abusive as well… he knew it had nothing to do with the others, the beaten ones. It had to do with some people's sick minds, regardless of whom they let their sickness go with.

"Big time, Daryl. Maybe I shouldn't be telling you this. Like you probably imagine, it's a sensitive subject for her. Good thing is, she managed to get rid of him. She put the pieces together at some point… something made click inside of her, I don't know. Either way, I'm glad it went that way. She started to denounce he beated her. Plus, he did it in public once. That was the time Shane almost kills him", he explained.

"Jesus, I'd have fuckin' killed him if I knew this earlier", Daryl spatted suddenly, hurrying to speak again when he noticed the glare Rick was giving him:

"Jus' can't stand abusive motherfuckers", he added, drinkind the whole glass of liquor to avoid Rick's gaze.

Rick had some sort of understanding smile on his face, but he didn't say anything and Daryl was glad for that.

"Come on man. I don't wanna let this asshole ruin my night out", Rick said, waving his hand on the air. "I thought you should know, your friend, Michonne... we kind of 've been texting these last few days", he told Daryl, lowering his voice and fighting to supress a contagious smirk that got Daryl laughing slightly.

Daryl lifted his brows. "Jesus, damn woman's like a fuckin' predator or somethin'. Ain't surprised", he murmured, and Rick let out a loud laugh. The truth was, he wasn't surprised at all. He knew Michonne and her proceedings very well.

They spent the rest of the night the way they'd started it, drinking and talking every now and then until the dizzy sensation started to hit him again. He'd had an awful lot to drink and if it hadn't been for that bastard's interuption he'd probably be unable to walk straight. They decided it was way too late and they should probably head back to check on the kids and so that Carol could go home. Ever since this Ed guy had showed up, he just hadn't been able to get her out of his head, his thoughts drifting from kiling the bastard who used to hit her to how nice she was and how he liked to look at her all the fucking time. He understood now the whole episode involving that car on her street the other day.

"Who's gonna drive?" Rick asked, amused, starting to laugh after throwing the question. Daryl glared at him and took the keys from him.

"I'm fuckin' drivin'", he said, which for some reason got Rick laughing again.

* * *

When they made it to Rick's house, they found a very sleeping Carol on the couch, the kids probably sleeping upstairs. Daryl couldn't help but smile a little. She looked so nice and peaceful deeply asleep right there he suddenly imagined that bastard's hands on her and he felt angry again. He watched Rick clumsily walk to her and shake her a little.

"Carrol, we're here", the man said in a drunken voice.

Carol sat up quickly, rubbing her eyes and watching them both.

"Sorry to wake you up", Rick murmured with a little laugh "you were sleeping so peacefully.."

"And you're… drunk?!" Carol asked, her eyes amusingly going from Rick to Daryl, a smirk starting to form on her face.

"Naw", Daryl said, but almost tripped with one of the stairs in his way to check for Sophia.

He managed to get upstairs to go back to the dining room a few minutes later. Rick looked like he'd passed out, his head thrown back against the couch, and Carol was still sitting there, looking at him with the same smirk she'd had before.

"Couldn't wake 'er up", he told Carol, fixing his eyes on the floor when he noticed he'd been checking her out from head to toes.

"Let her stay here Daryl, you don't have to wake her up… you can pick her up tomorrow, it's Saturday and all". Apparently Rick hadn't passed out because he was still able to speak.

"Ya think tha's alrite?" he asked Carol, hoping his voice wasn't sounding like Rick's.

"I was actually going to suggest the same thing", she told him with a smile. "It would be a shame, having to wake her up this late".

"Well, alrite.. I guess tha's fine. Wouldn' wan' er ta smell the alcohol outta 'er dad", he mumbled.

"I can take ya home though", he added, suddenly glad Rick was uncapable of driving.

"I'm going to have to accept that offer", Carol said, looking at Rick and they both laughed. 


	15. Chapter 15

I finally managed to bring another chapter of this little story for you.

Thank you for reading and reviewing and have a happy saturday :)

S.-

* * *

"I hope you don't take this the wrong way, Daryl, but, is it ok if I drive?", he heard her say as they walked outside, his eyes stuck on the three steps in front of him because his vision was pretty dizzy and he certainly didn't want her to notice this little dilemma he was in.

It actually took a lot of alcohol to get him drunk, kind of like the amount he'd had that night. Hell, as far as he could remember, it'd been almost 2 bottles of Southern Comfort and a few beers. The good thing, he thought, was he wasn't so wasted as to confound his drunken thoughts with logical, great ideas that may sound totally right now, but that he would definitely regret the next morning. The thought of asking her to go to his place, since he was alone tonight and all, for instance, did cross his mind, but he quickly pushed it away the same minute he figured he'd better stop staring at her ass as she walked down Rick's frontyard steps.

"Watcha say?" he drawled, fumbling with the truck's keys.

Carol chuckled, taking the key from his hand and opening the truck's door herself.

"I just suggested I could drive, you know… it's probably better since… ", she started saying, and he just smirked and gestured for her to get in the driver's seat.

"I can drive in automatic mode, pro'bly could drive on ma sleep. Still gonna have ta do it when I drop ya home", he said when he got in. "But I take it ya ain't worrying 'bout ma own safety 'ere, yer worryin' bout yers", he teased her.

Carol laughed, bringing her hand to her mouth, and despite his blurred vison he saw her cheeks flush a bit.

"I didn't mean it that way! I mean… yes, you're right, now that I think of it", she told him, eyeing him out the corner of her eye, "but, huh, you could stay home for the night, we've got plenty of space", she added, her face going slightly red again.

"Hell no, trust me, not tha best idea righ' now", he bursted out, hurrying to come with something else to say when she gave him a confused look. He couldn't just tell her it was probably the best idea he'd heard in years but for completely different reasons than the ones she was suggesting. Damn. Why wasn't she drunk too? Jesus. What the hell was he thinking? Taking advantage of a drunk woman? Plus, she wasn't. He could ask her to go for a drink though, that could work, and it was something he actually wanted to do but he'd never managed to if sober, but he was scared of just passing out if he drank any other drink.

"So.. Rick told me you ran into Ed", she said suddenly, interrupting the crazy thoughts he was having.

"Pff. Bigges' asshole I met lately. My brotha, Merle, he's a fuckin' diplomatic or somethin' compared ta tha' guy". He remembered then this was actually Carol's ex or some shit, but he couldn't come up with something to fix what he'd said since those words were probably still scarce to describe that man.

"I don't know your brother, but don't you compare him to Ed. I swear, he's worse. Worse than anyone you could think of", she said, dropping her gaze to the floor for a second. "I'm just sorry you had to meet him". She didn't seem mad for what he'd said, but he still felt bad about it.

"Wha' tha hell yer sorry fer? Ya ain't wit' im anymore are ya?"

"Oh no, jesus, no. Not anymore. I just... this might sound stupid, but sometimes… sometimes i just feel embarrased of people knowing I've actually been with a man like that. It's just... well, it's complicated", she told him, briefly glancing at him.

"Nothin' ta be embarrased 'bout. Hell, shit happens, til we stop 'em from happenin'. I don' know much 'bout it but ya should be proud ya stopped it", he mumbled, his hand brushing lightly over her arm, and she actually turned her head and smiled at him.

"I am.. I am, I just, I guess it's one of those dark things about my past I'd like to just hide, you know? erase. But I can't so it seems easy to forget about them when no one else knows. But this thing, Ed, I mean.. it just follows me, _he _just follows me, it's like a constant reminder of how idiot I've been."

Daryl swallowed hard, thinking what she'd said was something he'd felt himself a lot in his life, mostly when they lived in Senoia and reminders of his past and people just walking away from him because of his last name were everywhere. She was right, it was easier here, exactly because no one knew about his story and he could just pretend it didn't exist, if only for a second.

"Trust me, I understan' ya. But dontcha call yerself tha', those things other people did ta us, they ain't our fault. Yer smart for havin' endin' it… that ain't easy ta do, not like people think".

She put her hand on his knee like she'd done once before and smiled again, throwing her head back a little as she stared at him.

"Thank you Daryl", she said, rubbing her hand on his jeans, and then he placed his own hand over hers, for an unknown reason, unsure about whether he wanted to comfort her or he was suddenly needing the comfort. Either way, he just did and she didn't even flinch.

"He whom ya was scared 'f tha otha' day?" he asked her, taking his hand away, becoming abruptly self-conscious of the whole strange situation.

Carol chuckled. "Yeah, I thought it could be him that day. He'd done it before. It sucks, but I'm kind of used to it. I mean, I'm used to looking around everywhere I go… he's got a restraining other but that don't mean he actually respects it."

"Well maybe he jus' needs someone ta jus' beat tha shit outta 'im.", he spatted, annoyed. "I mean it, he ever bothers ya again, ya gimme a call."

"Daryl!" she warned him, but he got the feeling she'd liked what he'd said to her, and she was actually laughing. "Thank you, really. It's nice, um, to feel looked after", she said simply.

He liked it when she laughed. It lightened her whole face up and he liked that she could laugh even when talking about a sensitive subject like that. He realized then his capacity to distinguish the rational thoughts from the drunken ones was becoming blurred and slowly replaced by just the willing of keeping her around. They were a few blocks away from her house and his head was starting to ache just by struggling with what the hell to do. He was in trouble. Good thing was, she didn't seem to be aware of it all, although that attracted him more for some reason.

"Ain't nothin'. Yer jus'… well yer jus' too damn nice ta have some creepy asshole stalk ya", he bursted out, his eyes flicking over her face as he spoke.

She suddenly stopped the car and for a second Daryl thought it'd been for what he'd said, but then he looked outside and frustratingly realized they'd gotten to her place.

"And you're so much nicer than you think" she said in a very low voice, dropping her hands off the steering wheel, her eyes lifting up and locking with his, and then he saw her bit her bottom lip, as if she regreted what she'd just said, and his heart started to beat faster for some reason, million thoughts swirling over his head he felt he couldn't control anymore.

His eyes drifted from her gaze to her bottom lip captured in her teeth and he suddenly brought his fingers to her mouth, brushing the flesh of her lips lightly, watching her eyes open, and he felt under his touch her lips parting a little, her warm breath all over his thumb. And he knew if he wasn't drunk he wouldn't bare fixing his eyes on hers like he was doing now, but he also felt the sensations her eyes locked on his were producing to him had little to do with the alcohol he'd consumed.

His hand moved to rest on her cheek then, and no matter how hard his brain was telling him to stop, he found himself failing to comply, leaning forward until his lips brushed against hers, which were unresponsive at first, but then he felt her hand grip his forearm and he leaned further, letting out a sigh when her mouth parted and she kissed him back, her lips soft and hesitant over his. He brought his hand to her waist and slowly moved his fingers up and down her side, but then he felt her stiffen and she abruptly pulled apart.

He raised one brow at her, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable and annoyingly sober. He saw her bring her hand to her mouth.

"I'm sorry, I'm just.. I just wasn't expecting this and I", she started to say, but he avoided her gaze and leaned on the car seat, turning his head to look through the window, which discouraged her to finish.

"Daryl…", she called him out, and he moved his head but still didn't look at her.

"It's alrite, jus' go get some sleep", he muttered, scrathing his head.

"No, I mean… it's not what you think", she told him, tilting her head to try to reach his eyes.

"ain't matter. Kinda need ta get back home, I jus', I guess I'm still drunk and I wasn' fuckin' thinkin' straight", he replied, opening the car door and stepping outside.

Carol got outside the car slowly and walked to him, but he quickly made his way to the driver's side and got inside, turning the car on and leaving before she could say anything else.


	16. Chapter 16

I specially liked this chapter, so I hope you do, too. For the first time ever for this story I've got probably the two next chapters kind of planned.

Thanks for reading and reviewing and hope this 2014 is treating you right!

Hugs.

S.-

* * *

He woke up with an awful hangover, recalling having kissed a woman who had pretty much told him to fuck off. He would have thought it couldn't get any worse, but the voice he would recognize everywhere and which he'd thought he'd been dreaming about reminded him otherwise. Of course. It was Saturday. He'd have remembered what was happening today hadn't he gotten so drunk yesterday. He wouldn't have done many things if he hadn't been so drunk actually… although now that he thought of it, he wasn't sure it had been the alcohol making him do those things, go ahead and kiss her. Damnit.

How the hell had he gotten in though?! or was he yelling from the street? That was kinda like him, he thought, unconsciously stretching and narrowing his eyes over the disturbing day light that made his head throb even more.

"What tha fuck Darylina?! Fucking door 's damn open!" There it was. Merle's unmistakable voice right in front of him.

He sat on the bed and brought his fingers to his temples, bending his head down for a few seconds before lifting it up and looking up at him. He covered his bare torso with the sheets, always uncomfortable with his brother taking a look at his scars although Merle had a few of his own, not as noticeable as his though.

"Jesus, Merle... can you jus' not yell, fer fuck's sake?", he muttered, suddenly feeling he wanted to drink all the water his body could take. "Bring me tha bottle 'f water, would ya?".

Merle tilted his head and chuckled a bit, but then his expression turned to the one that'd been on his face before: confusion and anger and a hint of amusement behind it all.

"Ya gonna tell me wha' tha hell's been goin' on 'ere? An' where tha fuck is Sophia!" he spatted, his voice loud and particularly high-pitched this morning.

Sophia! His heart stopped for a second but he quickly remembered she had stayed on Rick's house. It had probably been a good idea considering he'd apparently left the front door open, but he just hoped Rick was in a better shape than he was right now and could at least look after the children. He hoped they didn't find him laying wasted on the couch the way they'd left him.

"She huh, stayed ova at a friend's house", he said, reaching for a t-shirt with one hand while trying to cover his back with the other.

"tha fuck?! Ya leavin' ma girl wit' strangers? And why tha hell yer coverin' yerself like tha'? Ya makin' it look like I'm runnin' into a naked lil' woman."

Daryl rolled his eyes and put a t-shirt on, getting out the bed and walking to the kitchen to get that bottle of water he'd ingenuously asked Merle to bring him. Of course, he followed him right behind.

"Ain't left 'er wit' any stranger.. Ya know how I look after 'er. She jus' stayed at some friend's house, 's all… will be pickin' er up in a minute", he said, leaning against the counter and eyeing him as he drank all the water in one sip.

Merle crossed his arms around his chest and smirked at him. "So ya decided since ya was free fer tha nigh' ya'd get fuckin' wasted an' prob'bly get some, huh? Yer lil' girlfrien' there jus' happened ta forget ta shut tha damn door in 'er way out".

Daryl couldn't help but chuckle at the irony. It'd have definitely been a better ending after all, only this time, although Merle could figure out pretty well, he just happened to be wrong.

"Kinda tha otha' way 'round. I left 'er there ta get some drinks wit' tha boy's dad, then I got kinda drunk an' figured it'd be better fer 'er ta jus' sleep there… guess I jus' forgot ta close tha door. End 'f tha fuckin' story", he barked.

Merle raised a brow, that annoying smirk still on his face. "Ain't it cute? Ma lil' brotha makin' some friends in his new town? Watcha jus' said though? Ya left 'er wit' a boy? A boy 'er age? Wha' tha fuck, Darylina!"

Daryl threw his head back in disgust. "Jesus, Merle! They're 12, fer fuck's sake! there was this... huh, this woman lookin' after 'em anyway". He swallowed, just the thought of her making his stomach clench. He shook his head to keep from thinking of her. "Ain't got no fuckin' reason ta give ya no damn explanation anyways. Let's jus' go get 'er and ya jus' stop talkin' til we get there or ma head's gonna fuckin' explode".

Merle smirked and raised his hands up defensively. "Ain't ma fault ya decided ta go fer some wild nigh' out wit' this new friend of yers lil' brotha!" he said cheerfully. Daryl sighed loudly and grabbed the truck keys to get out.

He had been so absorbed in his thoughts of Carol, of the night before, thoughts he couldn't manage to arrange in his head, he'd forgotten this was exactly the part that scared him about Merle's visit: him getting to know this… new people in his life, friends, whatever they could be called. It was actually like she'd told him last night: it was easier to just be when no one knew about your past, and Merle… well… quoting her, because he couldn't have said it better, he was a constant reminder of some things he had been, things he probably still was. It was really a little more complicated like that… it just… it'd always been just him and Merle, back there in Senoia, and his brother was actually much more untrusting of people than he was himself. There was always something about them and no one seemed to be good enough to be around them, as weird as that sounded, which in Merle's vocabulary, who knows what the hell that meant… probably something in the line of tough or badass or smart enough even, because his brother usually frequented badass and tough people, but mostly to take advantage from them, get things he wanted, drugs, alcohol, and hell he was a lot smarter than those guys usually were. His brother had a shell of his own, one that was different than his, but that was still there in the mask of anger and toughness and other stuff. Hell… he could already guess what he was going to say about Rick, for instance. Women… that was a whole different thing to Merle. Thing. That word described how his brother felt about them pretty well: it seemed like they weren't even subjected to any judgment of his. They either were good enough to fuck them or just annoying whores. That was why Michonne disconcerted him so much, because he couldn't figure where she fit in his scheme. Sophia… Daryl died out of curiosity to know what his brother was going to think when she grew older. He had the feeling she would challenge his thoughts about women, if she hadn't already, at least a bit. The strange thing was, Merle's attitude towards people actually inhibited Daryl himself, making him act just like him sometimes. And he'd just simply chosen to stay away from people because he couldn't stand his brother's comments, warnings and teasing. It wasn't that he hated people, not really, but he just didn't understand most of them because he'd never dared taking a better look, and his brother's words had stuck on him. It was somewhat the same than when they were kids: he'd always known there was a lot of wrong shit about his brother and he couldn't stand him most of the time but he still looked up to him in some ways, and not having had him around all this time, it'd made him feel stranger but also free, free to be whoever the hell he wanted to be.

* * *

"Morning, sunshine! I've been trying to wake you up for… hell, a good couple of hours now", Andrea said, looking at the kitchen clock.

"It hasn't worked for years, that fucking clock", Carol said with a chuckle, walking sleepily across the kitchen, and Andrea laughed loudly at the sight of her.

"Jesus! I think you've been spending too much time with Rick, or maybe Daryl? cause now that I think of it, Rick isn't the swearing type".

Carol gave her an horrified look and raised her hand up, gesturing for Andrea to stop. Her friend just watched her, confused.

"Just don't mention them, I'm not in the mood for this kind of conversation", she stated, her voice still sleepy, opening the fridge in the search of something she apparently didn't find inside.

"And what kind of conversation you assumed I was going to drop?", Andrea asked her, leaning herself over the table to watch her more intensely.

"The never-ending conversation about when is Rick finally going to date someone and who might be the mistery woman Daryl is sleeping with? That one? I'm just not in the mood", Carol said sharply, but she sat next to Andrea anyway.

The blonde woman raised her brows, a half smirk on her face. "Which can be translated as… you're not in a good mood. Period", she offered, "Alright, I get it", she added, standing up.

"Andrea…!" Carol called her, and she turned around just before closing her room door.

"I'm sorry, okay? You're right, I guess I just didn't get up in the best of moods", she told her sincerely, a little sad smile on her face.

"Why though? What happened? or you just woke up that way?", Andrea asked her.

"Yeah, something happened", Carol said, and Andrea's eyes widened. "But please, Andrea, just… don't make a big scandal out of it and don't try to guess anything before I tell you. And no, Rick didn't confess his love for me or anything", she added knowingly and Andrea snorted.

"Don't blame me for thinking he liked you! I wasn't the only one. He's just so touchy with you and all…", she said shrugging.

"Because of Lori, because I've been there for him when it happened, helped him with Carl and all in his little time away", she said impatiently, "we're just friends, we got closer, with Ed and all. Anyway, no it's not that".

Andrea rested her chin on her hand and tilted her head, looking at Carol eagerly.

"It's Daryl.. he, huh.. he drove me home, he was drunk, not totally wasted though, but definitely a bit dizzy. We were talking about Ed, because they ran into Ed, him and Rick, they went for drinks and ran into Ed. And he kissed me, before I got out of the car… I kind of, kissed him back for a milisecond and then I just panicked or something and he left, pissed off", she said so fastly she let out a deep breath after.

Andrea blinked several times in perplexity.

"He kissed you huh?" she said slowly, a smile on her face.

"Yes, he did", she said hesitantly. "He was drunk though. And why… why are you acting so calm about it?" she asked, surprised.

"Well, I guess it just happens not to surprise me that much. It did cross my mind, the other day, when I was supossed to pick you up. He was just so insistent about me not doing it I kind of figured it out then", she said, openly grinning now.

"And how come you didn't tell me?"

"Honestly? I didn't want to... interfer or something. I was just waiting to see if he did something about it, proved me right, well... he did", she said, grinning again.

"So did you hear the rest of the story?" Carol said, dropping her arms on the table. "I panicked. I don't know, he put his hand on my waist and all I could think about was… what if he felt the scar? I.. I don't know, it wasn't him who scared me, but I just pulled apart. Then I told him I was sorry, I tried to tell him it wasn't him, but he didn't even look at me… he looked… hurt."

Andrea bit her lip and looked at the ceiling, sighing, and then dropped her eyes back to Carol.

"Honey, you can always explain yourself… I know you're thinking it's a big deal, but maybe it isn't", she offered.

"What am I supossed to explain? That I've got a disgusting scar across my stomach I just can never get rid of?" she asked, resigned.

"You can explain him you just wasn't ready… something like that, he knows about Ed, doesn't he? I'm sure he will understand", Andrea said softly.

"I'm just tired, you know? I'm tired of 'not being ready', I mean, I don't even know what does mean! When it comes to Rick, I understand... of course I understand, I understand him not being ready, but when it comes to me, what am I not ready for? Leaving that son of a bitch behind?! Jesus, I hope I already have!" Carol told her, her voice a little loud, her eyes filling with tears.

Andrea reached for her hand with her own and squeezed it, looking at her.

"Maybe it isn't that… maybe you like him, and you're just scared he might see those scars that hurt you so much, feel them, whatever. But maybe… maybe he likes you too, despite all of it, because… Carol, who doesn't have them? Whether they are visible or not."

"You're right", Carol whispered, her eyes glassy.

"About what?" Andrea asked her with a small smile.

"I do like him".


	17. Chapter 17

there you go guys, another little chapter. Pretty much just story development.

Thanks for R&R and hope you have an awesome weekend!

S.-

* * *

"Jus' try not ta be an ass", he told Merle as he knocked on Rick's door. His brother started to say something the moment the door opened and a very tired looking Rick walked out.

"Hey man. I barely had any sleep, Jude woke up at 8 am and I couldn't stop thinking how awful a hang-over is when you're not 20 anymore", he said with a grin. He noticed Merle behind and instantly stretched his hand out.

"Oh, hi. Rick Grimmes, Officer Grimmes, whichever ya want to call me." he said, a polite smile on his face. You Daryl's brother?" Merle snorted and stared at his hand for a few seconds before shaking it.

"Officer, huh? Ain' never exactly been ma favourite flavour… Pro'bly sounds better than redneck brickie. But ya got it righ', Officer friendly, I'm tha oldes' brotha, Merle Dixon, construction' worker Dixon, whichever ya wanna call me", he drawled with a smirk. "Where tha hell is tha kiddo anyway?", he asked impatiently, and Rick eyed him with curiosity but ended up chuckling.

"Oh, of course. She just got up, earlier than Carl, as a matter of fact. Sleepyhead, that one", Rick said between chuckles, shoving his hands inside his pockets and looking the exact way people looked like when they met Merle, a little uncomfortable, maybe a little disoriented too.

"Thanks fer lettin' er stay 'ere man. I was a fuckin' mess yesterday", Daryl muttered, tilting his head to peep for any sight of Sophia inside the house and get the hell out of there before Merle decided to throw any more comments.

And luckily Sophia appeared right away. Daryl smiled at her in greeting, but he rolled his eyes and chuckled when he saw her run straight to Merle and wrap her arms around his waist. Just like himself Merle wasn't one to look forward physical contact but Sophia was as much as an exception to his behaviour as she was to Daryl's. Merle lifted her from the ground and Daryl could hear them laughing about something. He wasn't sure what the hell that was but he was glad Merle had diverted his attention from Rick anyway.

Rick nodded his head in their direction and smiled, his eyes still flicking with curiosity over Merle's frame.

"You wanna come inside for a cup of coffee or something?" he asked, which got Merle to stare back at him.

"Huh, thanks, but we better get goin'", Daryl said hurriedly, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot for some reason.

"Maybe nex' time, officer friendly!" Merle said cheerfuly, "hope ta ran into tha' kid of yers, make some things clear wit' im!", he added, tilting his head defiantly, although he was still smirking.

"Name's Carl", Rick answered, his expression turning serious. "And I'm sure you won't be needing to. You're still welcome to come for coffee or something anytime you want", he said politely, although Daryl was getting the impression Rick wasn't much fond of his brother already. There it was, Merle's speciality on display: putting people on the defensive just by being there and throwing a few out of place sentences.

"Ain't tha' nice of ya! 's why I knew tha righ' way ta call ya even 'fore I metcha", Merle said, and Daryl just watched the whole exchange in silence, hoping it'd be over soon.

"Well, guess I'll see you around then", was all Rick said, glancing at the three of them. Daryl started to turn around, but he heard him speak again:

"Hey, Daryl… Carol alright? You drove her home safe?", he heard him ask, silently cursing this new habit of his stomach of just clenching something awful whenever she was mentioned. Plus, he was positive that comment alone was enough to catch Merle's attention again.

"Huh, yea. She's alrite. Or she was yesterday…" he swallowed and looked back at Rick. "Can ya tell 'er not ta come this Monday though? Merle's gonna be around so we won't be needin' er", he said, trying to sound as casual as possible and very aware that wasn't the only reason why he didn't want her to show up, but thinking it was partially true anyway, that Merle was going to be there, and if him meeting Rick already got him uncomfortable, he couldn't imagine how he would feel about him meeting Carol. Plus, there was no reason for her to look after Sophia if Merle was going to be there anyway.

Rick narrowed his eyes and frowned in confusion and Daryl wondered what the hell was so hard to understand about what he'd just said.

"Yeah, alright. I can do that… I just thought you had her number?" Daryl didn't know whether he was asking or saying, but either way, the man was right. He did have his number and there was no way of explaining the reasons why he just didn't feel like talking to her right now. He nodded quickly, doing his best to pretend it wasn't really a big deal.

"Yea, I do. I.. huh.. I was jus' thinkin' ya could ' tell 'er if ya saw 'er around.. but yea, I guess I can text 'er or somethin... anyway, see ya soon", he said quickly, "thanks fer everythin'", he added, looking at him over his shoulder on his way to the car.

…..

"So ya had yerself a good time Soph?" he asked her as he drove back home, feeling in a lighter mood than earlier just by watching her on the rear view mirror, all happy and shit about Merle's visit. He stil couldn't get the fact that he was eventually going to have to call her or text her or whatever out of his head, but to the hell with it. He could think what to do about it later.

"I did! Did you? You were acting a little weird back there", she said, and Merle bursted out laughing. Daryl turned his head and lifted his brows to his brother, muttering a profainity which made Merle laugh even more.

"Wasn' actin' weird. Jus' didn' sleep well, 's all", he said to Sophia. "So watcha guys do?"

"We stuck by the playstation all night. I was tired of it but Carl wouldn't let me stop playing because I kept beating his ass", she said, and Daryl snickered. "and just in case people don't believe me, I told Carol she'd be the witness".

"'f course I believe ya", he just said, feeling his stomach squeeze again, and getting ready for what he knew was coming.

"Carol? Same woman ya drove home lil' brotha?" There it was.

Luckily it was Sophia who answered the question.

"Yup. She stays with me whenever dad's working. I gotta say, she's pretty cool when you get to know her", the girl said.

Merle stared at Daryl for a few seconds but he strangely didn't say anything else. He turned his head to look at Sophia instead.

"Speakin' of beatin' tha' kid, guess wha' Ol' Merle brought aaall tha way from Senoia?" he said with a smirk, "goes back wit' me unless ya beat ma ass too".

Sophia opened her mouth in surprise, her eyes going wide, and Daryl smiled at the sight. He guessed Merle wasn't so bad after all, not all the time, at least, and specially not when it came to her.

"Ya got all nigh' ta try 'til baby brotha 'ere gets outta work. Then I'm gonna take off, check out this lil' place".

* * *

"Thanks for staying up waiting! I so needed this... it's been what, maybe a month we don't go out like this", Andrea told Carol, her bright red lips curling in a smile. Carol smiled back and recognized the glass of beer she was slowly drinking was relaxing her in some way, and it just felt good to be there, watching people get inside and leave, diverting her attention from what she'd been thinking all day. She couldn't help but ask though.

"So, did he tell you anything? I mean, of course he wouldn't but, I don't know…" she said, laughing at her own words. Maybe she just wanted to talk about him, anything about him Andrea might say.

"Um, I guess all I can say is he barely talked to me. I mean, he's never been particularly chatty or anything but I got the feeling he's been avoiding me all night or something", the blond woman told her, taking a long sip of her own beer.

Carol sighed, fixing her eyes on her beer as if it'd give her any answers.

"So what do I do? Do you think I should call him or something? Maybe explain him everything?" she asked, looking up to the ceiling. "I just don't know what do to", she said, dropping her arms on the table.

"Why don't you wait 'til Monday? You'll be seeing him and it sounds like a good opportunity to talk… or maybe you should just go ahead and kiss him, show him it's all good", Andrea said with a smirk.

Carol's mouth dropped open and she brought her hands to cover it and started to laugh, just the thought of it enough to embarass her.

"I'm sorry ta interrupt ya ladies but I gotta say I liked wha' I jus' heard", someone said from behind her, "how 'bout ya let me buy ya a couple 'f drinks?"

Carol looked at Andrea, whose face tilted and was smiling towards the man's direction. She turned around then, taking him in, her forehead frowned and not so conviced about wanting this man she didn't know to buy them any drinks or anything for that matter.

The man, who looked around his fourties and she definitely hadn't seen around before chuckled, his eyes drifting from Andrea to her.

"Cat bit yer tongue sugah? I'm tellin' ya though… whoever yer gonna kiss 's a fuckin' lucky bastard", he said, going ahead and taking an empty seat in between the two women, no invitation needed.

"So… it'd be nice to know the name of the person who's actually going to buy us some drinks", Andrea said, her chin resting on her hands. Carol looked at her with wide opened eyes and shook her head slightly, hoping she'd get the message, which apparently didn't happen. She saw the man turn his body to look at Andrea, boldly drifting his eyes to her cleavage and then back to her face.

"Ain't ya somethin' nice ta look at", he drawled, the same smirk which Carol had to admit was quite charming plastered on his face. "name's Merle, ain't from around 'ere, what's yers darlin'?"

"I'm Andrea. And this here is Carol", Carol smiled a fake smile, still nervous about this person joining them. She wasn't one to trust on people that easily. "So what brings you here, Merle?", Andrea asked him, slightly leaning on the table.

The man, Merle, brought his hands to the nape of his neck and leaned back on his chair, looking at them both.

"Jus' visitin' people. Ma lil' brotha, he's workin' 'ere now, moved all tha way from Senoia so I came visit. Figured why not goin' out, meetin' some beautiful ladies like yerselves", he said, drinking to the last drop of whiskey in his glass and inspecting it between his hands afterwards, apparently not convinced about the liquid having gone.

Carol couldn't help but smile as she stared at the man, flattered by his words though she knew he probably said the same words to every woman he met. Something about him sounded very familar to her but then again she was sure she had never seen him before. She thought he was attractive, in an odd way, tough looking with that leather jacket and the shaved head but still charming and clearly knowing his way around women. She brought her fingers to her forehead, thinking hard, and she remembered it then: Daryl had mentioned he had a brother. He had said his brother's name was Merle. Damn, now that she thought of it, they looked a lot alike too. What the hell.

"So, you said your brother is working here? What does he do?" she asked casually, making a face to Andrea.

"Cookin' bussiness sugah", he said absently, staring back at her and then looking around. "Almos' forgot 'bout 'em drinks… bet yer beer's damn warmed up already. Be righ' back, dontcha go anywhere", he added with that characteristic smirk of his.

Carol followed him with her gaze as he walked towards the bar and ordered the drinks, animadtely chatting to the waitress. She looked at Andrea then, who seemed to be captivated by the man.

"Andrea…"

"Andrea!" she called her again when she didn't respond.

"Sorry, what?" Andrea barked, focusing her attention back to her friend.

"this guy.. He's Daryl's brother!"


	18. Chapter 18

writing seems to be flowing better with this one these days.. hope you like it!

S.-

* * *

"What? how can you know that Carol?" Andrea stopped glancing at Merle and looked at her, frowning in desbelief.

"Because he told me! He told me his brother was going to come visit this weekend… and in some other ocassion he mentioned his name was Merle. I mean, what are the odds!" Her voice was low but anxious, and she was leaning over the table so that he wouldn't catch what they were saying even though the music was loud.

"sounds like it might be him then... damn, I can't believe it!" Andrea said in astonishment, shaking her head. "He kind of looks like him now that I think of it, don't ya think?" her eyes focused on the man again, who was on his back but suddenly turned around, a glass of beer on each of his hands, and started walking towards their table, a big grin on his face.

"Alright, just let me handle this", Andrea said quickly, a smile forming on her lips Carol was sure wasn't dedicated to her.

"Well, thank you Merle", Andrea said in a completely different tone of voice, one Carol knew was saved exclusively for flirting.

"Ain' nothin' ladies. Least I can do since ya lemme join ya", he answered, raising his glass of whiskey on the air and staring at them both before drinking almost all the content.

"I don't recall you asking for permission to join us, but yeah, I guess you're still welcome", Andrea joked, her eyes fixed on his, and Carol suddenly remembered that quote, 'three is a crowd', but she didn't want to leave just yet, not before confirming this indeed was Daryl's brother sitting in front of her, and, being honest to herself, not before hearing what he might say about him too.

"Ain' ma style… askin' fer permission ta do anythin' sugah, ain't gonna ask how come two beautiful ladies like yerselves happen ta be alone in 'ere either, might as well jus' enjoy it", he drawled, his eyes slowly moving from Andrea's face to Carol.

She choked on her beer a little, not really sure about how to respond to his flirting ways, but she tried to smile anyway, which got him smirking. She'd thought just a minute ago he was clearly interested in Andrea, but now it just looked like he couldn't care less who ended up catching his bait, and she suddenly remembered Sophia saying his uncle had his way around women or something like that. He definitely looked like Daryl, but his attitude couldn't be any more different.

"So... you said you were visiting your brother? how come he didn't come with you tonight?", she asked finally.

"Got himself a kid ta look after, tha' lil' fucker… got damn wasted las' night too". He snickered, apparently amused by his own words.

Carol swallowed hard. Was there any chance Daryl might have told his brother anything about what happened? She doubted it, really, but the whole situation was making her very nervous for some reason.

"He's got a kid huh? That's nice... what is it, boy or girl?" Andrea asked him, and Carol had to supress a chuckle of her own over them openly questioning the man now.

Merle laughed.

"Wha' is it wit' women always wantin' ta know tha' kind 'f shit? 's a girl, ain't a lil' kid no more though.. pro'bly tha only girl in tha history of Dixons, lil' brotha's always been too damn soft fer a Dixon anyway", he said, his arms folded behind his head, staring at the ceiling as he spoke.

"Dixon? Oh my god, you're Daryl's brother!?" Andrea did pretty well acting like she was actually surprised, and Carol had to bring her hand to her mouth to stop from laughing. She knew how ridiculous the whole thing was, but in her defense she could say this was a big coincidence they might as well just take good use of.

Merle raised a brow, his gaze back to Andrea's blue eyes. "So ya know ma lil' brotha.. holy fuck.. keeps gettin' interestin'", he said, lighting a cigarrete without any further reaction towards the information, as if it wasn't any big news to him. Well, it probably wasn't, Carol thought. After all, these things happened all the time, particularly if you weren't in Atlanta or a big city like that.

"Yeah... I actually work with them, back there at the restaurant. And Carol… she looks after Sophia whenever he's working, so yeah, we know him", Andrea explained, her eyes going from Carol to Merle.

yer tha same Carol he drove home yesterday?" Shit... world 's fuckin' small", he said with a grin. "to this lil' coincidence!" he added, filling his glass and raising it again before drinking all the liquid in one sip just like he had earlier. "ya know, I'd take ya both home since ya already know 'im... fucker's always givin' me shit 'bout not bringin'random women to 'is place, guess ya ain't random fer 'im after all, watcha say?"

Carol's eyes went wide, both over his former and his latter question. She couldn't figure out how the man knew he had drove him home yesterday other than Daryl telling him himself, which wouldn't make sense unless he'd told him what happened. And now he was inviting them to his place, to Daryl's place, which didn't sound like a good idea, not at 2 am and not after what happened the night before.

She watched Merle, whose eyes were glassy probably out of all the whiskey he'd been drinking, and shifted uncomfortably on her chair, knowing it was up to her to decide, because Andrea was staring at her as expecting an answer and she was probably up to going anywhere with the man anyway.

"Huh, I don't think it's a good idea.. I mean, it's just, it's too late, they're probably sleeping", she mumbled, her fingers playing nervously with the border of her glass.

Merle snorted but then nodded quickly, bringing his hand to his face and rubbing his forehead frantically, in a gesture that reminded her of Daryl.

"Pro'bly wron' idea indeed sweetheart. Jus' wanna take tha hell outta 'ere, watcha say 'bout tha'?" he asked, looking at them both.

"Well, we can always go to my place", Andrea commented, her hand on her chin. "_our _place, actually, we live together, so we can all go there".

Merle smirked and stared at Andrea for a few seconds, standing up in one quick movement, a lot quicker than what Carol would have thought, considering how much he'd been drinking. His eyes never leaving Andrea's, he brought his hand to his pocket and dropped a few coins on the table.

"Ain't opposin' to tha'", he said.

They got inside Andrea's car, Merle announcing he'd walked there since he was only a few blocks away, which Carol already knew, and she was surprised at how it had spontaneously became clear which women was the one interested in Merle, his eyes boldly flicking all over Andrea's frame, his body progressively leaning closer to hers as she drove home. He'd definitely read the signs right, although the signs had been pretty direct in Carol's opinion, something she admired and at the same time questioned about Andrea. Her friend didn't mind at all being straight when it came to show a man what she wanted, the problem was she usually picked the wrong ones, or so Carol thought, and this seemed to be no exception to that, even though she didn't know Merle, but his overall appearence and attitude weren't indicating the oppossite. She suddenly felt a little jealous, in a good way though, that this seemed to be so easy for the two people on the front seats of the car, while her only recent interaction with a man she actually liked had actually turned pretty much into a disaster. And now the man's brother was going to their house and would probably end up sleeping or something alike with Andrea and this was becoming weirder than she'd ever thought. She laughed to herself, and she wondered what will Daryl have to say about the whole thing. Well, if it was true things happened for a reason and all that shit, maybe this would help her fix last night's mess. Maybe.

* * *

"Fuck!"

Daryl slammed the extra room where Merle was supossed to be sleeping, quickly regretting it since Sophia was still asleep. The son of a bitch had decided to sleep somewhere else, as usual.

He cursed all the way to the kitchen, unsure of what bothered him so much about Merle not having gotten back. Maybe he just hated that he was so damn predictable, maybe he just knew he'd probably found someone to join him for the night and it just reminded him of his failed attemp to just kiss a woman last night. Just then his phone started to ring, and he ran to answer before it woke Sophia up. He rolled his eyes when he saw who was calling. It was Merle. Damnit. The bastard had probably managed to get in trouble his very first night in town, he thought.

"Wha' tha hell, Merle?"

"Sup Lil' brotha'! figured I'd call ya 'fore ya freak out!" he said in his usual tone.

"Where tha fuck are ya Merle? Ya didn' sleep 'ere".

He heard Merle snort.

"No shit?! Ya soundin' like ma fuckin' wife, Darylina, the one I don' have", Merle told him, running his hand absently over Andrea's back, who was sitting on the bed and staring at him, a small smile on her face, her hands gripping the sheets to cover her body.

"Anyways, ya wouldn' fuckin' believe where I am.. I migh' need a ride though", Merle added, and he saw Andrea gesture for him to hand her the phone. He smirked and gave her the phone, laying on the bed and pulling her along with him.

"Well… since you're going to find out, sooner or later, hey there Daryl, it's, umm.. it's Andrea", she said, a grin spreading over her lips.

Daryl's mouth dropped open, and he moved the phone from his ear to his hand, staring at it as if the thing could explain to him what the hell was going on. He blinked several times and brought the phone back to his ear again.

"What tha fuck is goin' on?!" he spatted, pacing all over the kitchen. "Ya there wit' Merle?!" He heard her laugh over the phone.

"Yes, dummy. He called you, remember?! Anyway, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to come to lunch, maybe with Sophia? You know, since your brother needs a ride anyway…"

"Hold on.. hold on a damn sec.. how tha fuck ya ended up wit' Merle ta begin wit'?" he scratched his neck, starting to understand what'd happened but still unable to believe it.

"We met him at a bar yesterday... the rest, well, I'm sure you can figure out the rest", she said, and he heard Merle laugh behind. "Anyway, you're welcome to come for lunch if you want to, just let me know".

She was talking to him as if being there with his brother, his brother whose existence she didn't know about probably until last night, was the most normal thing in the world. She was even inviting him and Sophia for lunch, to the same house Carol lived in, and he was wondering now if Carol had met Merle too. Jesus.

"Hell no… wha' tha hell ya want me ta tell Sophia huh? Tha' Merle jus' happened ta sleep there outta tha fuckin' blue? She ain't stupid! Jus' tell 'im ta bring his damn ass 'ere sometime soon."

"Well, I'm sure you can think of something to tell her. Anyway, it's ok if you don't want to though, I can drive Merle there later", Andrea said, and he heard Merle say something he didn't catch.

Daryl sat on one of the kitchen's benchs, rubbing his forehead with his thumb and giving the invitation some thought. He could definitely come up with something more or less credible to say to Sophia, and as awkward as he knew that lunch was going to be, he figured if he didn't go he'd spend all day wondering what might Merle tell Andrea and Carol, specially Carol. Plus, it'd be good to see her, even after what happened. Maybe it was time for him to man up and stop hiding himself from her, showing her he could take her rejection well, although it wasn't the truth.

"Damn.. jus' lemme process this alrite? I'll give ya a call later.. I mean, fuck, I'll call 'im later. Whateva.'"

He hung up, a few minutes having gone by before he stood up and focused on what to do until lunch time came.


	19. Chapter 19

a little bit of smooth sailing doesn't hurt anyone I think.

Hope you like this one, thank you for R&R!

Hugs.

S.-

* * *

"I still don't understand why he didn't go in his car", Sophia said. She hadn't argued about going to Andrea's and Carol's house for lunch, not at all, but ever since he explained her the whole lie about why Merle was already there she just kept asking questions, like if she hadn't believed him to begin with but was waiting for him to fall in the trap.

"Told ya a hundred times Soph... I had ta buy some stuff, gave 'im a ride ova there", he looked at her and rolled his eyes. "Jesus, if ya was so curious 'bout more important shit ya'd prob'bly been graduatin' righ' now".

"That's mean", she told him laughing. "I just think it's weird, that's all. But I'm not asking any more questions", she said, shrugging.

"Thank ya, lord", he joked, parking the car in front of the women's house. He swallowed hard and quickly stepped out of the car, hoping to run into Merle before Sophia did. He didn't think it was really that important but whichever distracted his attention from the fact that he was going to see her today was important enough for him.

And strangely, or maybe not so much, it'd been Merle who'd opened the door:

"tha hell, ya tha fuckin' host now?" Daryl stopped and stared at his brother with questioning eyes, although the hint of a smirk was starting to form on his lips. Merle could be amusing at times, even for Daryl.

"leakage in tha roof. 's why ya was 'ere 'fore", he told him quickly, and Merle snorted.

"such a damn nice metaphor!" Merle joked, his characteristic smirk playing on his lips. "alrite, leakage in tha roof it is. Gonna have ta take anotha' look, I'm thinkin' it ain't completely fixed jus' yet".

Daryl rolled his eyes, walking past him. "Shut up Merle".

* * *

Daryl had came for lunch. He sure wouldn't have if he hated her or something, or even if he didn't hate her but just wasn't interested in running into her again. At least that's what Andrea told her when she complained about her little idea, and she hadn't had the time to think about it all so she just ran into her room, quickly changing from her pijamas to something more presentable but not wanting to look overdressed for the ocassion either. After throwing every single piece of clothing onthe floor she finally opted for what she wore almost every day: jeans and a black sweater.

And she was still laughing about Merle and Andrea having breakfast in the kitchen, Merle sitting on the counter in his boxers and the same t-shirt he's been wearing yesterday, Andrea walking around in her pj's and both of them just looking like a married couple on a Sunday morning, enjoying their time alone before their children woke up or something like that. Carol shook her head. She knew this was very much like Andrea, and Merle… she thought he was the kind of man that was always going to startle people, both in good and bad ways. Charming, though, probably made people feel that way until the second day they spent with him and then they just wanted to kill him. But they'd looked nice together, and Carol thought it was actually the most perfect way a one night stand could possibly go.

And now Sophia was here too and they were all eating pizza, since no one had felt like cooking and when all the glances turned to Daryl he'd quickly turned them down, claiming he already spent too many hours of his life doing exactly that. There was also a story about a roof leakage they were supossed to tell Sophia, and Carol found it difficult for the girl to believe it since Merle's arm was resting on the back of Andrea's chair and he kept moving his hand up and down the woman's back.

"I don't understand, you're _living _here now?" the girl asked Merle and laughed right after, making everyone in the table laugh along with her.

"Wha' can I say kiddo, always like ta put maself comfortable, wherever I happen ta be"

"I can see that", Sophia said, giving him a look.

"Ya keep forgettin' kid's smarter than ya are Darylina! She may have gotten yer looks but she sure as hell got 'er uncle's brain", Merle stated.

Carol saw Daryl blush slightly, but he laughed anyway, something he'd been actually doing a lot over lunch, and she found herself drawn by it. She didn't recall having seen him laugh like that, and she thought that as odd as Merle may be, it was evident how good it did Daryl, just spending time with his family. It made his face brighten, and god didn't that make him_ look_ good too, even better than he already did all the time. She may have been staring at him for a little too long because he lifted his eyes and fixed them with hers, giving her a little nod.

"ya migh' wanna find anotha place ta live in Carol…guy jus' won't be leavin' anytime soon", he said, and Carol saw Andrea clear her throat and fix her eyes on her plate to keep her grin from showing.

"Shitty excuse ta drag ya home darlin'.. dontcha ever buy it", Merle said, and Andrea let go the laugh she'd been holding.

* * *

Daryl lighted a cigarrete the second he walked into the balcony, enjoying the fresh air yet putting his sunglasses on to hide from the brightness of the light. He leaned against the railing and absently looked at the people walking down the street. He could picture some people carrying bags, probably heading to their houses to cook lunch, some holding a little child's hand while others were just walking on their own, and he suddenly wondered at which point those people walking on the street, enjoying or enduring the Sunday struggled over not knowing what to do over someone they cared, or they thought they cared, or they were starting to care about... how many of them went through awkwards lunchs or dinners or reunions just to see that someone. He figured a lot of them did. And he could never be sure whether he was really that different from everyone, or he just pretended to be just to avoid thinking and dealing with certain things he'd always claimed he didn't care about.

And the little lunch hadn't gone so terrible actually. It had in fact gone pretty good, all things considered. He'd managed not to act so awkwardly and even exchanged a few words with Carol, who had looked nervous at first, a little stratled by his presence, but she hadn't given him any pity looks or anything alike. Maybe they could just leave it there, pretend it never happened, and he could get back to acting normally around her, maybe even be friends?, although that word wasn't really part of his vocabulary, but it was starting to be, with Rick and Andrea and all this people he kept running into, sometimes even looking forward to. Merle and Andrea… well, that was the least surprising of all things that'd happened this morning, although it was still amusing, to put it some way, how his brother looked all committed and attached to a woman he'd probably never see again the minute they walk out of her house. Andrea didn't seem to mind, and she didn't, either, seemed to believe it may go any differently. He even got the feeling that was it for her too, getting some form of affection and just enjoying it while it lasted, not particularly interested in pushing it any forward. The only thing that had him worrying about it all was the idea Sophia was going to have about this stuff, watching Merle jump from one woman to the next as if they were dispensable things, and his own dad avoid them like if they didn't really exist. He figured she'd understand there were all kind of people and she'd at least have a close example of what kind of guy not to pick up for herself. He chuckled at the thought. Maybe he was going to have to talk to her about it one of these days.

He heard steps behind him and quickly turned around, his half smoked cigarrete slipping off his hands. He took his sun glasses off, his eyes instantly narrowing at the sudden change of light. Carol was standing by the balcony's door, the farthest she could be from him which turned to be pretty close since the space was so narrow.

"Ya smoke?" he offered, not really knowing what to say, turning his body so that he was facing her, his back against the railing.

She smiled at him and surprisingly walked forward, leaning against the railing as he'd been doing before she showed up.

"Oh, no.. I don't smoke. I mean, I ocassionaly take a drag of it when I'm drinking, but I just choke to death when I do", she said chuckling, and he found himself chuckling along with her.

"good thing I guess... ain't good fer yer health and all tha'", he muttered, a little confused by her presence.

"I was just hoping we could talk?", she said, taking a look at him out of the corner of her eye before fixing them back to the street.

He stiffened, his hand fumbling inside his pocket to get another cigarrete.

"Alrite..huh…talk", he said in response, aware of how his voice had came a little sharp but unable to help it.

"I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry about the other day", she said, her voice so low and soft he barely heard her.

He glanced at her quickly, taking a long drag out of his cigarrete and thinking of what the hell to say.

"Hell, Nothin' ta be sorry 'fer.. I was dru.. " he started to say, but she turned to her side to openly look at him and interrupted him.

"it's not really an apology, you know?... I mean I regret turning you down. I regret it cause it's not what I really wanted", she said much more firmly this time, and he could feel her eyes all over his face but he couldn't bare to turn to his side like she had and just face her.

He brought his thumb to his mouth and remained silent for a few seconds, unsure of what to say and even of what she'd meant by what she said.

"Watcha mean?" he asked finally.

She let out a breath before answering him.

"I mean… well... I mean I did want to kiss you back there", she said with a nervous chuckle. Those words caused him to lift his head and fully look at her this time. "But, well, I didn't, and you just thought I was rejecting you but it wasn't really that way…, I mean.. I know it looked like that, but then you just left without letting me explain anything… and well, there, it came out too fast, but I hope you get the idea". Her eyes dropped to the floor and she took another breath.

"I just thought you had to know. And I hope we're good too", she said finally.

Daryl suddenly felt someone had gotten inside him and erased his capacity of speaking. He slowly turned around to finally face her, and he cleared his throat, hoping it'd enable him to speak.

"Huh.. yea.. I mean, we're good", was all that came out. He rubbed his chin. She was probably expecting him to say something else but he felt a little lost, like he needed some time to process it all. If he hadn't heard her wrong she'd said she'd wanted to kiss him and he didn't know whether that was a proposal or if she just meant she would have liked to back then but the moment had just passed. And of course, there was no way he was asking her that.

"Good" she said, moving one step forward, her eyes lifting up to meet his, and he felt his body shiver over both actions, her own body impossibly closer to his now.

"good ta.., huh, clear things up." He mumbled, his voice coming out differently, lower, almost in a whisper. And he knew those words hadn't really meant anything. Empty words he'd just pronounced to fill the space, the silence, to replace the ideas his mind was starting to form too fast for him to stop it now. His eyes were unable to look anywhere else, and he saw her raise her hand and felt it land on his upper arm, the muscle there clenching but quickly relaxing under her soft grip.

Her eyes were still fixed on his and he saw her chuckle. He must have frowned or done something that expressed confusion because she tilted her head, the chuckle turning into a small smile, the grip of her hand on his arm slowly loosening until she dropped it to her side.

"fuck.. . ain't no damn good at this shit", he muttered, and he actually half smiled at her, his head starting to move towards her, his eyes piercing hers, which were wide opened, her lips slightly parted.

"Me neither", she whispered, her hands going to the nape of his neck to pull him closer, and she closed the distance between them, lettins his lips quickly find hers.

He kissed her hesitantly at first, his lips moving lazily over hers, which were soft, softer than he remembered, the softest he'd ever had, and then she lightly bit his bottom lip and he instantly brought his hands to her waist, pulling her body closer, his tongue slowly sliding inside her mouth to meet hers. He growled in the back of his throat at the taste of her tongue, until the sound of dishes and people walking back and forth inside brought him back and he slowly pulled apart, feeling every nerve of his body tingle in complain.

She was looking at him expectantly, the same little smile still playing on her lips.

"We better head back", she said, and he was glad she said something because he was finding it hard to react after what'd just happened, in broad daylight and in the middle of lunch with Merle, Andrea and Sophia. Fuck it. Life was strange today. A good kind of strange for a change.


End file.
